Down the Rabbit Hole
by This-is-my-designx
Summary: Jazmine Becket hates her brother. After Yancy died, Raleigh left and told no one where he was going, not even Jazmine. Now that Raleigh's back to pilot Gipsy Danger, Jazmine is forced to add her anger at him to her ever-growing list of problems, placing it after her inability to avoid chasing the rabbit and her inappropriate feelings for a certain co-pilot. Chuck/Jazmine.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, Miss Becket. Your brother, Yancy..." Marshall Pentecost looked grave. Graver than she'd ever seen him. She imagined it was more to do with the fact that the Jaeger programme was being scrapped, rather than the fact that something had happened to Yancy.

She already knew. Raleigh had been brought in, barely alive. When they'd brought him in, she'd screamed his name as they wheeled him down the corridor, away from her. She'd cried out for him to open his eyes and look at her, but he couldn't hear her, they said. The extent of his injuries were unknown, but thought to be severe. Piloting a Jaeger single-handedly was almost unheard of, she'd heard someone say. The reason they had _two _co-pilots was because the neural load was too much for one person. It was then that she realised that Yancy was dead. There was no second stretcher bearing an injured-but-alive Yancy, no talk about a second co-pilot. In fact, it was almost as if the people around her were deliberately avoiding talking about Yancy altogether. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that her eldest brother was dead.

Jazmine sat beside Raleigh's bedside for days at a time. She was scared that if she left him for more than a few minutes at a time, he'd die. Losing Yancy had felt like losing a limb. If she lost Raleigh as well, she'd be broken beyond repair. The doctors had told her that he was stable, but that didn't stop her from worrying. Their parents were dead, and with Yancy gone, that left only the two of them.

"I don't know if you can hear me," Jazmine said quietly. She felt stupid talking to her brother's unconscious form, but she wanted him to know that she was there, that he wasn't alone, and that she didn't blame him for Yancy's death. "Yancy's dead, though I guess you already knew that. It's just you and me now," she paused and a reluctant smile found its way to her lips. "I can almost hear Yancy laughing at that. I mean, apart from the whole Jaeger pilot thing, you're pretty useless," she joked, "you can't even make a cup of coffee without spilling the whole thing all over yourself."

She felt like crying. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They both should have come back, victorious from their win. Jazmine would have congratulated them, as she always did, and given them both a hug that told them both very clearly that whilst she was all smiles and support on the outside, she worried like crazy whenever they took Gipsy Danger out for a spin. They should have had breakfast together that morning whilst Raleigh enthusiastically recounted their fight, blow for blow. Yancy would occasionally interject with a correction, ( "_That was _my _idea, actually." ) _but for the most part, would spend the entire time with his mouth stuffed full of food. It became a routine of sorts. It was their thing, right up until the moment that it wasn't. Right up until the moment that Yancy's life was snuffed out, and their trio become a duo. Oh God, Yancy. She missed him already. She missed him so much that her entire body ached with longing. She wanted to scream. To scream his name so loud that he'd somehow hear her and wake from his death. She kept expecting him to come bursting through the door, his face pale and drawn, the way it always was whenever she or Raleigh were in trouble. _Yancy, _she whispered inside her head, _come back. I need you, come back. _

_JAZMINE! _

The voice came from inside her head, but it didn't belong to her. Someone was calling her name, trying desperately to get her attention. She could feel them somewhere in the back of her mind, but the signature wasn't strong enough for her to grab onto. Was it Yancy? Was he trying to make contact from beyond the grave?

_Jazmine, listen to me, don't chase the rabbit._

Don't chase the rabbit. She didn't chase the rabbit, the rabbit chased her. Every single time. She fought so hard to just let it flow, but Yancy would always appear as if from nowhere, take her hand and lead her away from the steady flow of memories, back into the one she wanted most to avoid. She'd try to pull away, to concentrate on just _letting _them flow, but no matter what she did or how far away she managed to get, Yancy would always drag her back, kicking and screaming. It was all a part of her imagination, of course it was, but that didn't mean it felt any less real. If she'd gotten one dollar for every time she'd told herself 'it's not real, it's all in your head,' she'd have enough money to leave the Jaeger programme and build herself a palace, somewhere far away from Jaegers and Shatterdome's and Kaiju.

"Jazmine!"

"I know!" She broke out, forcing herself out of the wave of memories that she'd been drowning in. "I know. Out of sync, I fucking know." She pulled off her helmet and disengaged herself from the harness. She left her co-pilot, Hannah, in the Conn-Pod as she stormed out, furious at herself.

"What happened?" Hannah called after her.

"What always happens," Jazmine replied shortly. "I chased the rabbit."


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, eat something," Hannah urged, pushing a plate of mashed potatoes towards her.

"I'm not hungry," Jazmine replied, pushing the plate back.

Hannah sighed but didn't pursue it. Jazmine was grateful.

She couldn't get her head around it. Everybody had problems chasing the rabbit at first, first Drifts were rough, but this wasn't Jazmine's first Drift, not by a long shot. It was the same every single time, the same memory. Perhaps it was because the memory of that day, five years ago, was still as fresh and as raw in her mind that it could have happened yesterday. She still felt the same crushing devastation whenever she thought about Yancy, but she refused to deal with it. Whenever the feeling manifested, she'd push it down, down, down until it disappeared. A problem for another day.

Perhaps it was because she still felt no closure over Yancy's death. She'd never been given the opportunity to say goodbye. She'd spent the day of his memorial service camped out by Raleigh's bedside in the hospital and she'd never visited his grave. It was an empty grave, since his body had never been recovered. To her, it was just a rock with his name scrawled across it.

"Evening, ladies." Chuck Hansen swung himself down onto the bench next to Hannah, opposite Jazmine. Jazmine ignored him. Chuck Hansen was an arrogant, egotistical dick and the only reason he'd forced his presence upon them was because he wanted to poke fun at Jazmine for what had happened in the Conn-Pod, she was sure.

"I heard someone fell down the rabbit hole, again."

Jazmine's eyes found his. He was smirking, the asshole.

"Piss off."

"Ooh, not very friendly."

_Ignore him, _Jazmine told herself, _don't rise. That's exactly what he wants. _

"Ah, don't be too hard on yourself," both Jazmine and Hannah stared at him in confusion. Was he being…_nice? "_It's hardly surprising, is it?"

"What's hardly surprising?" Jazmine's words came out more sharply than she'd intended, but she was far too familiar with Chuck to be lured into a false sense of security. There was no way, no _fucking _way that another failure on her part would spark any sympathy from Chuck whatsoever. Hannah was watching him with narrow eyes. She tensed as Chuck opened his mouth; it wasn't the first time she'd had to prepare to take evasive action to try and avoid the explosion that would inevitably go off if the two of them were left to converse freely.

"You're a Becket," he said. "You come from a long line of fuck-ups. Your brothers would be _so _proud."

They'd be furious. She'd only ever mentioned wanting to be a Jaeger pilot once, and the moment the words had left her mouth, both brothers had shot her down. "It's too dangerous," Yancy had said, and she agreed, it was dangerous.

"But you know what else is dangerous? Doing nothing. I want to be able to defend myself against these things. I want to be able to defend everyone."

"You're only sixteen, Jaz," Raleigh had tried to reason.

"I'm not going to be sixteen forever!" She could still feel the bitter resentment that she'd felt during that conversation. Why was it ok for them to go out and risk their lives every time a Kaiju surfaced, but not her? Did they think her incapable?

They'd reasoned that she didn't _need _to learn how to pilot a Jaeger and fight Kaiju, not when they were around. It was ironic, really. That conversation had taken place less than two months before Gipsy Danger's battle with Knifehead.

As for her problems with the Drift, she had no idea how they'd feel. Perhaps they _would _be disappointed in her, just as Chuck had implied. It was embarrassing for her, so she couldn't even begin to imagine how they'd feel about it, two fully-fledged Jaeger pilots who could slide through the Drift with ease.

Then she remembered, it didn't matter what they'd think. Yancy was dead, so he didn't think anything, and Raleigh was God knows where, probably dead, too.

"My brothers were not fuck-ups," Jazmine said quietly. She wasn't angry, the way she usually was when Chuck was around. She felt dejected and couldn't quite conjure up the right amount of enthusiasm for what she was sure could have been a spectacular argument.

"Yancy got himself killed," Chuck said cruelly, "and Raleigh ran away. Given the current climate, I'd say they were pretty big fuck-ups." She didn't like the way he said Raleigh's name. Ray-leigh. It sounded wrong. He was saying it wrong. It sounded the way everything that came out of Chuck's mouth sounded; mocking.

"You're such a dick."

* * *

Jazmine put her head in her hands and sighed. She was alone, at last, having stormed out of the mess hall shortly after Chuck had declared her brothers 'fuck-ups'. It had taken all her willpower not to grab a knife and force it through his eyeball.

_I shouldn't have bothered getting up today, _she thought to herself bitterly. After her failed attempt at crossing the neural bridge, things had gone downhill from there. She didn't normally dwell on the past so much, but having lost her footing in the Drift and being pulled back to the day that Yancy had died…well, no one would be particularly happy after that.

She glanced at the wall of photos to her left. Most of them were of Yancy, Raleigh and herself during happier times, before K-DAY, before their mom died and their dad abandoned them. There were some there that had been taken after Yancy and Raleigh had joined the academy. There was one, her favourite one, of them after they'd come back from their first fight. Still in their Drive suits, they'd returned victorious after defeating Yamarashi, one of the biggest Category III's to ever emerge from the Pacific Ocean. Of course, they'd had to have a picture taken. Raleigh had insisted on it. What better way to bookmark their first kill? She took it down from the wall and turned it over. On the back, Raleigh had scribbled the date, 10/17/2017. It was seven years ago, now. That would have made her fourteen years old. Looking at the photo, she could see the sheer relief in her face. They'd lost their mom to cancer and their dad had pissed off. She remembered how terrified she used to be that one or both of them would get deployed and then never come back.

_They're going to leave you, _she wanted to tell the girl in the photograph. _They're going to leave you, and they're not going to come back. _She wanted to wipe that stupid smile of sheer relief from her face. She wanted to prepare her for what was coming, for the unbearable pain she was going to feel later.

With a sad smile, she put the photograph back on the wall. It had been a bad day from the start. Too many bad memories and old feelings had been stirred back up, like leaves on the bottom of a pond.


	3. Chapter 3

"On your right!" Hannah shouted.

Jazmine turned and saw Arrowhead, their Category IV, moving towards them with terrifying speed. Together, they used their right hand to grab the monster around the neck, and the left to deliver a hard punch. Arrowhead fell backwards, injured, but not dead. Not yet. He scrambled back to his feet and came at them again, but they were ready and waiting. Hannah grabbed his head and the two of them smash his head against the empty building on their right. For a moment, it seemed to be going in their favour, until Arrowhead broke free of their grasp. He was badly injured, Jazmine noted, which would hopefully work to their advantage, but an injured Kaiju didn't necessarily mean that the threat was eliminated. Sometimes it just pissed them off.

The ugly bastard charged into them. There was no time to do anything but brace themselves against the impact. For one horrible moment, Jazmine was sure they were about to go down, but somehow they withstood. They were shoved backwards several building lengths and thrown off balance, but they were upright, uninjured and raring to take the bastard down.

Arrowhead looked a lot like she'd always imagined Knifehead. She liked that. It was easy to pretend that Arrowhead was actually Knifehead, the biggest Category III ever recorded, the one that killed Yancy and, by extension, took Raleigh away from her, too. It made her angry.

Anger wasn't something recommended that you take to a fight with a Kaiju. _Anger makes you reckless_, they said. _With everything that's at stake, we can't afford recklessness_.

Anger didn't make her reckless. Anger focused her. It was powerful and important and it fuelled her. It gave her the mind-set she needed.

Of course, she was focused without it. Her anger wasn't the only thing that made her a competent pilot, it was just that with it, her thoughts came that little bit quicker, her moves sharper, and her punches harder. She imagined that this Kaiju, Arrowhead, was the same one that had torn Yancy right out of the Conn-Pod, and it was all the motivation she needed to finish the job.

They stood, watching as he charged towards them like a bull, ready to impale them on that 'arrow' that protruded from his forehead. They stood only for a second before running out to meet him. Jazmine could hear Hannah's cries of triumph as they knocked the beast to the ground. Hannah wanted to draw the battle out, but Jazmine wanted to win, and she wanted to win now. The plasma cannon came out. Jazmine charged it, impatiently willing it to go faster, whilst Hannah held Arrowhead down, their knees pressing down on his throat.

"Anytime today, Jaz," Hannah muttered, grunting with the effort of keeping Arrowhead down. Jazmine shot her an irritated glare, did she think Jazmine was waiting for the theatrical effect?

"Jaz," Hannah said in way of warning.

"I know." It was almost there, just a couple more seconds.

"Jazmine!"

"I KNO-"

With an ear-splitting shriek, Arrowhead threw them off of him and drew himself up to his full height in a fit of rage. Now they'd really gone and woken the dragon.

"NOW!"

Jazmine held up her right hand and the plasma cannon released a clip right into Arrowhead's ugly face. He roared, he screamed and he cried, and then he dropped down, finally dead.

Breathless, Hannah turned to Jazmine. "Nicely done,"

"Thank you," Jazmine replied with a smile, at the same time that the Jaeger A.I announced, '_Simulation over.'_

* * *

Outside of the simulation room, Chuck Hansen was leaning against the wall. What or who he was waiting for, Jazmine didn't know, nor did she care. She could tell by the look on his face that he'd been watching their simulation and prepared herself mentally for the barrage of insults.

"Ladies," he greeted them. "Well done."

"What do you want?" Jazmine asked him sharply.

"I wanted to talk to you, actually," he glanced at Hannah, who gave him a hard look before turning to Jazmine. She placed a hand on her arm in a gesture that said, _don't let him get to you, _before leaving the two of them alone.

"Let me guess," Jazmine said as she watched Hannah's retreating figure. "Poor performance, sub-standard moves? Too slow? Could you, the almighty Chuck Hansen, godly pilot of Striker Eureka, have done it in two seconds flat? Sorry, not all of us take out Category IV Kaiju in our spare time and have Mark-5 Jaegers at our disposal."

"That's not what I was going to say," Chuck replied patiently.

"Oh, ok. Let me guess again. In a real fight, Arrowhead would have killed Hannah and I in the first minute and I would have joined my fuck-up brothers, leaving you, a man of godly proportions, and your dad to pick up the slack? Although, I guess, for you it's not picking up the slack, is it? It's happily taking credit." She laughed bitterly. "I think you'd actually be _pleased _if I went out there and got myself killed, wouldn't you? You could walk around telling people how you knew I wasn't up to scratch and that I was always going to go the same way as my brothers. I mean, I'm a Becket. Fucking up is genetic, am I right?"

"I wanted to apologise," Chuck said bluntly.

"Apologise for what? What happened the other night? Oh, honey, you don't have to apologise for that. I know you can't help it, it's just who you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looked wounded. Bless him, she thought. She couldn't imagine that a lot of people actually insulted him. She knew a lot of the girls, and some of the boys too, were madly in love with Chuck Hansen, a fact that she was sure he was well acquainted with and used to his advantage whenever it suited him.

"It means you're an asshole," his mouth fell open and she smirked, "have a nice day, Chuck."

* * *

It was three am. Jazmine knew that she'd regret staying up so late when she had to drag her ass out of bed at five am, but she couldn't wind down. Her head was full of thoughts; primarily her triumph during their simulation earlier that day. There was nothing better than winning. She wondered if it felt the same against the real thing.

She thought about what her life would have been like if her mom hadn't died – would her dad have stayed? But then, was her mom the only thing keeping her dad around in the first place? She'd never gotten the impression that her dad didn't want to be a part of their family, but after they'd buried her, he'd hightailed it out of there without a backwards glance at this three children.

She thought about what her life would have been like if things had been different. If her mom had stopped smoking when she'd found out about the cancer, would she have survived? Would their family still be whole?

If the Breach had never opened and the Kaiju had never stepped foot into their world, what would she be doing? She'd had dreams at one point. Very unrealistic dreams, but when you're nine years old, anything seems possible.

Actress, model, singer, dancer, doctor, athlete, scientist, teacher. All of them had been on her list of possible career options when asked in school. She wondered which one she would have chosen, if any, had things turned out differently.

* * *

Four am and she was still awake. After dwelling on what could have been, she'd returned reluctantly to the present. Gipsy Danger was being restored to all her former glory, and who better to pilot her than the sister of the infamous Becket brothers? Marshall Pentecost was pinning all his hopes on her, and whilst she wanted nothing more than to rise to the challenge and become one half of Gipsy's pilots, she couldn't help but wonder if she was the right person for the job. Clearly, she wasn't cut from the same cloth as her brothers, who were about as Drift compatible as they came. Oh, she could fight. She could hold her own in a fight just as well as her brothers had. It was just the Drift. Drift compatibility was essential, obviously, and as of that moment, Jazmine had not proved herself to be compatible. From the first moment she'd tripped up and chased the rabbit for the first time, she'd been determined to overcome it, to successfully build a neural bridge, become a damn Jaeger pilot and be the best that she could be. She wanted to be a pilot that Yancy could be proud of. Raleigh, too. Even her parents. She wanted so badly to be the one to kill the next Kaiju that came swanning out of that damn Breach in the Pacific Ocean and prove that she was more than just Yancy and Raleigh Becket's younger sister. She wanted to be out there, killing more Arrowheads. She wanted to be known for her own victories.


	4. Chapter 4

Raleigh glanced at the calendar on the wall of his…well, he couldn't really call it a room. It was November 25th. Five days away from Jazmine's 21st birthday. She would soon be the same age that he had been when Yancy had died.

Every year, for the past five years, he'd considered sending her a card, so that she'd know that he hadn't forgotten her, or a letter so that he could explain why he'd left, but he'd never been able to bring himself to. Each year that passed increased the amount of guilt that he felt over severing all ties with the only member of family that he had left. He hadn't done it intentionally, not at all, but he'd managed to convince himself that first year that she wouldn't want to hear from him, and from then on, the longer he left it, the harder it was. What would he say to her? How would he justify not making contact for five years? He couldn't imagine that any attempt to reconnect with his younger sister would be received kindly.

If only Yancy could see him now. He was fairly sure that he'd receive a good punch in the face for the way he'd treated Jaz. She'd only been, what? Twelve, thirteen, when they'd enlisted, and Yancy had always been adamant that they look after her to the best of their ability. Neither of them knew how to be parents, so they'd just had to do the best that they could. But then Yancy had died, and Raleigh couldn't even remember how to look after himself. He'd spiralled downwards into an abyss of self-loathing and self-destruction. How could he look after his sister when he could barely bring himself to get up in the morning?

The way he'd seen it, he'd been doing her a favour. He didn't want to drag her down with him, so he'd let her go. He'd set her free. Whether or not she'd seen it that way, he didn't know. He imagined probably not.

He looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in his lap. He'd been all set to write her a letter this year, to explain to her why he'd left, but the only word he'd been able to get down on paper was her name. After that, it had been as though his mind had been wiped blank, leaving him with nothing but her name, scribbled in the top corner of a crumpled sheet of paper.

Yancy would have known what to say, and he hated that. He hated that Yancy always was the better brother, even in death.

* * *

Six in the morning. Jazmine was sat opposite Hannah in the mess hall. Hannah was picking at her breakfast, whereas Jazmine wasn't even bothering with hers, the glass of water in front of her being the only thing she could stomach.

Sirens. Flashing lights. Shouting. Everything happening at once. That could only mean one thing.

Hannah and Jazmine looked at each other. "Kaiju," they said simultaneously. Jazmine turned her head. She could see the Wei Tang triplets already making their way towards the exit, no doubt on their way to the Drivesuit room. Herc and Chuck Hansen were hot on their heels.

"Let's go and see what's going on," Hannah said, getting up from the bench. "You never know, they might need us."

"I doubt that." Jazmine replied bitterly. She followed Hannah in getting up and followed her co-pilot out of the mess hall and towards the LOCCENT center.

* * *

"Category III, codename: Kojiyama," Tendo Choi was saying. Jazmine was stood behind him, watching the signature on the radar. As far as she could tell, the beast was heading towards the Bohai Sea, on the coast of North China.

"Striker," Marshall Pentecost was saying into the microphone. "I want you defending the coastline." Jazmine heard a disgruntled sigh come through from Striker at the same time that Herc confirmed their position. Clearly Chuck wasn't happy with being put on the back burner. He preferred to be right in the thick of things. She understood his frustration, but at least he was actually out there. There was a very good chance that he'd get to fight, even if he was stuck defending the coastline.

"Hey," Tendo spun around in his chair, "Happy Birthday, Baby Becket."

"Will you _stop _calling me that?" Jazmine rolled her eyes. He'd coined the phrase back way back when. She'd didn't hate the nickname per se, but it had been embarrassing when she was twelve, and her feelings towards it hadn't changed over the years. "Besides it's not my birthday for another," she checked the date on the computer screen in front of him. 30th November, it read. That couldn't be right. She could have sworn it was at least two weeks until her birthday. "Oh. Are you sure the date on that is right?"

"Postive," Tendo replied, grinning.

* * *

Kojiyama's attack had been one of the less eventful ones. Crimson Typhoon and Striker Eureka had ended up taking him down together and that had been the end of it. No one was hurt, no cities were destroyed and no Jaegers fell. It had been a success, whichever way you looked at it. She'd felt an overwhelming sense of relief when Tendo had declared the Kaiju dead. Every time those sirens went off, every time Rangers were sent out in Jaegers, Jazmine felt her chest tighten. Regardless of who it was being deployed, she couldn't relax until the fight was over. It had been a lot worse when it was Yancy and Raleigh being deployed, them being her brothers and all, but it was still enough to make her uncomfortable.

"_Even Chuck?"_ Hannah had asked when Jazmine had voiced her concerns.

"_Even Chuck." _Jazmine had replied, stony faced. She worried for all of them, and that included Chuck. A part of her thought it might be because she knew that if one of them fell, if just one of their precious few Jaegers were destroyed, they'd be in even worse shape than they were now. They had four Jaegers left. _Four. _How were they supposed to save the world with four Jaegers, any of which could be destroyed at any moment?

* * *

By the time that Striker and Crimson Typhoon were being brought back in, it was midday. She had training with Hannah later on that afternoon, so she had a few hours of time to kill. She sauntered on down to the mail room. She didn't often get mail, since everyone she knew was here in Hong Kong, but she couldn't help checking it every now and then, just in case.

There was one letter. One. She picked it up, glaring at it distrustfully, as though it might jump up and bite her if she took her eyes off of it for more than a second. The envelope was kind of grimy, but that wasn't what caught her attention. It was the handwriting. She knew that handwriting, she was sure of it.

She tore the envelope open and pulled the letter open with such vigour that she almost ripped it in half.

_Jazmine,_

_Before you rip this letter up and set it on fire, let me first say that I'm sorry. So, so sorry…_

She skimmed through the letter, too angry to sit down and read it properly. The word 'sorry' popped up again, several times. Oh, he was sorry, was he? Not good enough. Yancy's name showed up a few times. Their parent's, too. Knifehead, Kaiju, still connected, blah blah blah. It was too little too late. He couldn't have said all this five years ago? He couldn't have said this to _her face? _Fuck him, and fuck his letter.

…_Happy Birthday, kid. _

_Love you._

_ - Raleigh. _


	5. Chapter 5

"Fucking idiot," Jazmine muttered to herself. She was _furious. _Five years, it had been. Five years! Did he honestly think, that after vanishing off the face of the earth for five years, he could just swan back into her life by sending her a measly letter of apology and everything would be alright again? No. No! That wasn't ok with her, not even a little bit. In fact, he was dead to her. She'd been under the impression that he was dead, anyway, after he disappeared. Being a naïve sixteen year old, she couldn't imagine any other reason why her brother would disappear and not keep in contact, the only explanation she could come up with was that he _couldn't _contact her, because he was dead. It was easier for her to believe that in comparison with the alternative.

"Hey, Baby Becket!" A taunting voice rang through the corridor.

"Fuck off," Jazmine replied without turning around. She wasn't in the mood for Chuck and his incessant jibes.

"That's no way to speak to a Ranger."

"_I'm _a Ranger!" Jazmine yelled, spinning around to face him. His hair was damp and his t-shirt clung to his abs in all the right places. He looked disgustingly good, and she hated herself for thinking that.

"I assume that you're using that term lightly," Chuck laughed.

"If you don't get out of my face, I'll pull your eyes out, I swear to god."

He held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender. "Easy. You're always so angry."

If she had been angry before, it was nothing to the way she felt now. She was apoplectic with rage. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She exploded, shoving him in the chest. It had been a hard shove, but he didn't move an inch. Which only angered her more. "Jesus fucking Christ, you take every opportunity to antagonise me and you have the audacity to wonder _why _I'm so angry? Why _wouldn't _I be angry? Every time I do something wrong, every time I slip up and make a mistake, you are there to remind me and everyone around me that we shouldn't have expected anything different, because it's _genetic! _Yancy and Raleigh screwed up so of course I will too! I mean, what the fuck? What is your damn problem? You hated me the moment you laid eyes on me. Why? What did I do?"

"I-what?" He looked dumbfounded. Lost for words. Clearly, he hadn't expected this outburst. Normally they would exchange insults until someone interjected and dragged one of them away, never before had she questioned his motives.

"Come on, what's your problem? You don't go out of your way to make someone else's life a misery for no reason, so what is it? Are you trying to impress someone? Is it Hannah? Do you fancy her? I don't think you've ever insulted her in your life."

"I don't fancy Hannah, I—"

"_THEN WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" _

"Jaz?"

The two of them turned; Jazmine was breathing heavily, her expression thunderous, whilst Chuck was wide-eyed and lost for words. Hannah was walking towards them, surveying them with narrowed eyes. "What's going on?"

"Me and Baby Becket here were just having a friendly chat," Chuck offered, smirking once again. Clearly he felt like he'd regained the upper hand again, what with Hannah's arrival and all. If he thought that she would treat him any better with Hannah there, he was very wrong.

"Call me that one more time, Chuck, I dare you."

"What's that in your hand?"

Jazmine glanced down. She was still clutching the now-crumpled sheet of paper that held Raleigh's pathetic apology. "What, this?" She held the letter up. "Here," she thrust the letter at Chuck. "There you go, asshole, read it aloud. Have a good laugh."

Chuck took the letter, reluctantly, and smoothed it out. He looked down at the words on the page. He saw her name, read the first line, and then realised what he was reading. Even he wasn't so heartless to mock her over this. He looked up. Jazmine was watching him closely. He held the letter back out to her, but she didn't want it. She shoved his hand away before storming off. He and Hannah watched her stride down the corridor until she was out of sight, and therefore out of earshot.

"What is it?" Hannah asked, turning back to Chuck.

"It's a letter. From her brother."

"From _Raleigh?_" Hannah gaped at him in disbelief.

"Yeah," he folded up the letter and slipped it into his pocket. "I should probably give it back to her."

* * *

Chuck found Jazmine high up, on the platform opposite Gipsy Danger. She was sitting on the floor, her legs dangling over the edge. He was sure that she could hear his approach, but she didn't turn, nor did she look up when he sat down next to her.

"Come to kick me whilst I'm down?" Jazmine muttered, shifting herself an inch or two away from him.

"No, actually, I just wanted to talk to you."

Jazmine gaped at him mockingly. "What, no clever insults? No put downs? No infuriating smirks as you pinpoint every time I've failed? Chuck, are you feeling ok?"

"Don't get used to it. This is a one-time thing only. Tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled bickering, understood?"

Jazmine rolled her eyes and turned away from him, looking back out at Gipsy. "What do you want, Chuck?"

"I came to give you this," he held out Raleigh's letter, "I didn't read it. Well, not all of it. Only the first line."

"I don't want it. Throw it away, burn it, throw it in the sea, I don't care."

"Yes, you do. That's why you're angry."

Jazmine threw him a sideward glare. _What do you know about it? _The glare said.

"I lost my mum," Chuck told her quietly. He'd never spoken about it before, not even with his dad. Especially not with his dad. "She was working in downtown Sydney when Scissure attacked," he looked down at his hands, "I was at school. We were given an hour to evacuate. My old man only had time to save one of us." He'd resented Herc ever since. It wasn't fair, he was well aware of that, to blame his father for choosing his son over his wife, but he could resent Herc for it, or he could resent himself. If it hadn't been for him, Herc wouldn't have had to choose, and his mother would still be alive. It was something he tried not to think about.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." It certainly didn't excuse Chuck's behaviour, but it did explain it. It was no secret that Chuck had been brought up in the Jaeger programme, spending more time with the machines than his father. Their relationship was strained at best, anyone could see that. Still, at least he'd actually had his dad.

"Since we're sharing, I lost my mom, too."

"Kaiju?"

Jazmine shook her head. "Cancer. She smoked more than a freaking chimney pot. You'd have thought that, after the diagnosis, she would have laid off them a bit, but if anything, she only smoked more. It didn't take long to kill her, unsurprisingly."

"What about your old man?"

"He left after we buried mom. We never saw him again. Never heard from him, nothing. Yancy said that it didn't matter, because we had each other. He took charge, you know, being the oldest and all. He took care of Raleigh and they both took care of me. Then they enlisted, and I guess you know the rest."

"I didn't know," Chuck said, bowing his head, in way of apology.

"That's the thing, Chuck, It shouldn't matter. If you want to start being nice to me, then that's fine, but don't do it because you feel sorry for me. Do it because you _want _to, because I don't want your sympathy."

* * *

They sat in silence for a long time before Jazmine got up and made to walk away. As far as she was concerned, that was as much bonding with Chuck that she could handle. She'd only made it a few steps when Chuck's voice pulled her back.

"You asked me before what my problem was…"

She turned back to face him. He was still sat in the same position, staring over at Gipsy Danger. He hadn't turned to face her, nor did he make any attempt to. "I did." Jazmine replied slowly.

"I don't hate you, Jazmine."

"You could have fooled me."

"I know, I'm sorry, I just…" He trailed off into silence. Jazmine wanted to prompt him, to push him towards saying the words that were so obviously lying on the tip of his tongue, but she knew that if she pushed, the words would retreat and she'd end up with a lie. "You know what, it doesn't matter, forget I said anything." He pushed himself up off the floor so that he was standing. He wasn't that much taller than her, but it was dark and he was intimidating so it was easy to believe that he actually towered over her.

"Chuck—"

"I said forget it." He said bluntly. He pushed past her and walked away from her. She watched him go, confusion running through every cell in her body.


	6. Chapter 6

_You think you know yourself inside out and then you find yourself sitting on a platform with a girl you thought you hated, imagining what it would be like to lean in and kiss those lips, to run your hands through that long, blonde hair. To—_

"Stop!" Chuck muttered to himself, silencing his annoying inner monologue. Apparently Chuck Hansen didn't know himself very well after all. "Jesus," he muttered to himself. "Just because you think she's hot doesn't mean you're in love with the girl." This was Jazmine Becket, he reminded himself. _Becket, _as in the Becket's that had brought down the Jaeger programme. She was weak-minded and wore her heart on her sleeve. She took too much emotion into the Drift and that's why she failed repeatedly. She hated him, he knew that much. That's the way he wanted it, because if she thought he hated her, she'd never suspect that actually, as much as he wanted to, he didn't hate her at all.

* * *

"Did you ever consider that maybe he might…like you?"

"Chuck? No way." Jazmine took a swig from the glass in front of her. "Guy hates me. I don't think he's ever said anything to me that wasn't an insult. You know, apart from last night." She'd told Hannah about her bizarrely sincere conversation with Chuck almost as soon as she saw her. Apart from what he'd told her about his mom, that wasn't her story to tell.

"Well, you know what they say…" When Jazmine shrugged, Hannah continued. "You know, all that shit about how guys are mean to girls because they like them."

"Oh, yeah!" Jazmine replied enthusiastically. "Except that this isn't a chick flick, and we aren't twelve." She grinned at her friend. "This is the real world, Han, and in the real world, when a guy is mean to a girl, it's because he just doesn't like her. Chuck Hansen does not fancy me. I mean, have you seen him? He's like a God!"

"Please tell me you're not saying you're not good enough for him?"

"Me, not good enough for Chuck Hansen? Please, that bastard would be thanking his lucky stars if he ever got to spend a night with me."

"Then what's your point?" Hannah asked as she toyed with the food on her plate.

"My point is, Chuck could have any girl he wanted. Or guy, I guess. I don't know which team he plays for. Seriously, though, he has no shortage of admirers. If he was looking for a girlfriend, then he certainly wouldn't be looking at me."

"If you say so," Hannah smirked. Jazmine knew she was just playing with her now.

"C'mon, Han. Can you imagine _me _with _Chuck? _Seriously."

"Oh, I dunno. I think you'd make quite a good couple."

"I really hope you're joking."

"Oh!" Hannah glanced to the left of Jazmine. "Here he comes!"

Jazmine turned sharply. Hannah was right. Chuck was striding through the mess hall towards them. He seemed to be emitting his usual aura of self-importance and general dick-headedness. After their conversation the previous night, Jazmine wasn't sure how to act towards him. Did she pretend like nothing had happened and ignore him, like she usually would? That seemed a little mean for her liking. But he _had _said that their conversation was a one-time thing, and that she shouldn't get used to it. Wow, who'd have thought she'd ever have any confusion about the way she acted towards Chuck Hansen?

She was saved the trouble of having to make any decision, though. He came right over to them, his trademark smirk right in place. "Hannah," he said with a nod in her direction. Hannah returned his greeting with a smile and he turned to Jazmine. "Ba-"

"—Say it and I'll put a knife through your forehead," she cut him off. She was going to kill Tendo Choi for uttering that cursed nickname near enough to the microphone that Chuck had heard him from the Conn-pod of Striker. It_ really_ rubbed her up the wrong way when Chuck said it.

"Whatever," Chuck said, smirking still. "Can I have a word?"

"You can have two, fuck you."

"Well," Chuck grinned, "as much as I'm sure you'd like to—"

Jazmine swung herself up and walked away from him without a word, before he could finish the rest of his sentence. She didn't know how she'd expected anything different. Chuck Hansen _lived _to piss her off, the previous night had been nothing but an anomaly. An irregular spot on their otherwise constant stream of arguing.

"Hey!" Chuck caught up to her just as she stepped out of the mess hall and into the hallway beyond.

"Go away, Chuck."

"Look, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Then talk to me. Normally. Without pissing me off."

"Hey," he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him, forcing them both to stop. "You said not to be nice to you unless I actually wanted to. You said you didn't want my sympathy."

Jazmine sighed. She knew that if she pursued it, she wouldn't win. It was something that seemed to be so ingrained into his DNA, that no amount of yelling on her part would make him stop. "That's the best that I'm gonna get, isn't it?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Ok, fine. What do you want?"

His demeanour changed immediately. Jazmine could have sworn that he actually shrunk a few inches. "About last night," he said quietly. "What I told you about my mum, could you, sort of, keep that to yourself?"

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of telling anyone."

"Thanks." He smiled at her. Not a smirk, a smile. A genuine, sincere smile. Perhaps the only one she had ever, or would ever, receive from Chuck. "I won't tell anyone either. You know, about your folks."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

Chuck clapped her on the shoulder, gave her a parting smile (another one!) and began to stride away. "I'll see you around," he called without turning around, "Baby Becket."

Jazmine scowled. If she'd had something non-lethal to throw at him, she would have thrown it at his head. But she didn't, so she was limited to standing there, scowling, and watching Chuck's retreating figure. Chuck turned just before he disappeared through the door at the end of the corridor and winked.

"Oh yeah," came Hannah's voice from behind her. "I see what you mean, he really fucking hates you."


	7. Chapter 7

Up until that point, Jazmine had never even considered the possibility that Chuck might like idea was laughable, but now that the idea had been planted in her head, it was impossible to be rid of. And then there was the inevitable question. The one that she'd been refusing to acknowledge, even in her own head.

Could she ever like Chuck? No, was the obvious answer. The answer she would have given without missing a beat had you asked her two days ago. Now, however, she wasn't so sure. She'd seen a side to him, a side she hadn't known existed, and that had showed her that he wasn't _always _a dick. He could be nice when he wanted to. He didn't always want to, clearly, but the fact was that he _could _be.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this," Jazmine muttered to herself. At the end of the day, the world was at war. Every single second that passed pulled them closer to their next Kaiju attack. The gaps between each event were getting shorter and shorter, it wouldn't be long until the attacks would become relentless, one after the other. The world would be teeming with Kaiju. It went without saying that they didn't have nearly enough Jaegers to contain that kind of incursion. The world was coming to an end, and here she was wondering whether or not she liked a boy. In the big scheme of things, it didn't matter whether or not she liked him, because they'd all be dead before long.

In all honesty, she'd never actually been able to imagine herself romantically involved with anyone. She'd had numerous one-night stands over the years. It was more common that you'd think, what with tensions running high and all that. The euphoria of surviving yet another Kaiju attack was contagious, and often resulted in amorous unions. Actual relationships, though. That was foreign territory for her. It wasn't that she'd actively avoided them, it was just that when you're trying to save the world, you don't really have time for relationships. Well, she didn't, anyway. She couldn't speak for anyone else; the Russians, Sasha and Aleksis, seemed to manage both with irritating ease.

* * *

"What do you think we'd be doing," Hannah said, "if we weren't doing this?"

"That depends," Jazmine replied. "Are you thinking of a world without Kaiju, or a world where Kaiju still exist, we just didn't end up becoming Rangers?"

"Either. Both. Let's do both." They were on their way down to the Combat Room. Jazmine needed to train; after being pulled back to the day Yancy had died in the Drift, her ensuing arguments with Chuck and the letter from Raleigh, her routine had been disrupted. Hannah had argued that perhaps she could do with a little disruption. Jazmine was still in peak physical condition, she'd said, it wasn't like she'd been lying in bed eating junk food for the past week, but Jazmine was adamant. If she didn't get back into it now then eventually she'd let it slip and then getting back into it would be all the more harder.

"Ok, so in a world where Kaiju still exist, I dunno, I guess I could have been a scientist. I always loved science in school."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. As for a world without Kaiju, I have no idea what the hell I'd be doing. I was only nine when Trespasser came through. When my brothers enlisted, it was sort of a given that I'd end up doing something within the Jaeger programme, I never had time to give anything else any serious thought."

Hannah opened her mouth to reply when she cut off by a sort of strangled cry. The two of them turned their heads in unison in direction of the noise, which had come from open door of the communal showers.

"What the hell was that?" Hannah said.

"I guess we should go and check," Jazmine said uncertainly. "You know, in case someone is dying in there or something."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Hannah grumbled.

"Your concern is inspiring," Jazmine said with a roll of her eyes as she led the way into the showers. At a first glance, they seemed to be empty, which wasn't unusual given the early hour. However, when she rounded a corner, she was greeted with what she was sure would have been a welcome sight in different circumstances.

"Jesus Christ, Chuck!" Jazmine exclaimed, turning away to shield what was left of her innocence and almost walked right into Hannah.

"What is it?" Hannah said, pushing past Jazmine so she could see for herself. "What's going o-holy shit! Seriously?" Chuck was soaking wet, which was a good look on him, and naked, which was an even better look. He also had the legs of an equally naked girl wrapped around his waist. Jazmine recognised her as one of the mechanics for Cherno Alpha. She was beautiful, Jazmine thought grudgingly. She was tall, slim and had long, thick blonde hair. She could have been a model.

Chuck and his tall, blonde supermodel girlfriend had frozen and turned to face the two girls. Neither of them looked particularly pleased to have been interrupted.

"We're really sorry," Jazmine wasn't sure why she was apologising. She wasn't the one having noisy sex in the _public _showers. She could see Hannah fighting to keep a straight face. Neither Chuck nor the blonde girl had said anything, but Chuck's glare said it all. Struggling to keep her eyes strictly _above _the waistline, Jazmine grabbed Hannah's hand. "We'll let you, er, continue. C'mon, Han."

"See you later, big guy!" Hannah called as she let Jazmine drag her away. "Jesus Christ did you _see _him?" Hannah whisper-screamed as soon as they were out of earshot. "I never thought I would say this, but Chuck Hansen is damn fine!"

Jazmine smiled, but said nothing. Hannah was right, he was a fine specimen of a man, but it didn't take seeing him naked to know that. He was a Jaeger pilot, of _course _he had a ridiculously good body.

She felt weird about it. It was hard to explain. She didn't feel angry or irritated or jealous. If he wanted to screw people in the showers then that was entirely up to him, it had nothing to do with her. She didn't feel good about it, either. She hadn't _liked _seeing him with the blonde mechanic with her long legs wrapped around his waist.

Maybe he really liked her, though. The blonde, that is. Judging by his expression, he hadn't been at all pleased when they'd inadvertently gate-crashed his little get-together. He hadn't said a word, but if experience was anything to go by, she could expect a verbal attack from him within the next 4-8 hours.

_It's nothing to do with you, _she told herself, though she wished it was. She wished she and Chuck did have something, just so she'd have a reason to be a little put-out about it.

"You ok?"

Jazmine looked at Hannah. She hadn't realised that Hannah had been watching her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She lied, flashing Hannah what she hoped was a convincing smile. Her reaction to this whole scenario had at least given her one thing. She'd needed an answer to her earlier question, and she'd got one. Apparently the answer to 'Could she ever like Chuck?' was yes. Yes, she could.


	8. Chapter 8

Jazmine felt better. She and Hannah had spent the morning going through various rigorous exercise schemes. Weight lifting, sparring, fencing and running. It wasn't supposed to be a competition, obviously. They were partners, two halves of a whole, but Jazmine couldn't help herself. Growing up with two older brothers had gifted her with an intensely competitive side. She actually quite liked it; she would always work that little bit harder, push herself just a little bit more, and more often than not, win. Even if winning wasn't actually an option, as it wasn't with Hannah, because they weren't going up against each other, they were working together.

She'd showered (ignoring the memory of Chuck and the mechanic in those very showers, a memory that was still very fresh in her mind) and changed out of her exercise clothes. Her damp hair was loose, falling down her back (she'd been meaning to get it cut, or at least trimmed, for about three years now). Normally it was braided to keep it out of the way, or at least tied up. She felt better. A lot better. Clearly her weird feeling earlier had been nothing a shower couldn't solve. Perhaps it was the fact that she'd not long been awake that had made her feel, well, less than great, as opposed to what Chuck had been doing.

That was an answer she preferred, and therefore that was the answer she was going to go with. It had nothing to do with Chuck and the mechanic. She felt nothing for Chuck, obviously, so what he did in his spare time in the public showers was nothing to do with her. Nothing at all.

* * *

2 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes, 36 seconds, read the war clock. Two days. How long would it be until seeing the word 'days' illuminated up there would become a rarity? How long before movement in the breach became a permanent thing, before the breach remained open, pouring hundreds upon thousands of Kaiju bastards into their world? How long would it take, she wondered, for them to wipe out the entire human race? Not long, she reckoned, not long at all.

"Jazmine Becket!" Chuck's voice echoed throughout the shatterdome. He wasn't too far behind her, so why he'd had to shout was beyond her. Maybe he was coming to give her the verbal beating that he'd silently promised her this morning with that ice-cold glare. "I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"Interesting choice of words, Hansen." Jazmine span around the face him, a little disappointed to find that he was fully clothed. Jeans, a blue t-shirt that fitted him snugly enough to hint at what was underneath, and his leather jacket, embossed with the words _Striker Eureka _covered what she now knew to be an _extremely _well built man. Hannah had been spot on in labelling him 'damn fine'. "Would that be the same bone you had this morning?"

Chuck was unabashed. "I'm not embarrassed about what you saw this morning, but Natalya is."

"Oh, Natalya, is that her name? She seemed nice!"

"She is. She's a good friend."

"A friend? D'you have sex with all your friends?"

"Only the hot ones." Chuck replied without missing a beat. He genuinely seemed completely unconcerned about what she and Hannah had witnessed. "Maybe you and I could go for a walk, get to know each other a little better," he winked and Jazmine rolled her eyes.

"We're not friends," she pointed out as she began walking again, away from Chuck, but he followed her.

"But you are hot," he shot back.

"Oh, wow," Jazmine giggled mockingly. "You're so sweet!"

"I do try."

"So, what did you want? I can't imagine you sought me out solely for the purpose of pretending to proposition me for sex?"

"Who said I was pretending?" Chuck replied with a grin. "No, uh, Natalya is kind of embarrassed. I mean, I don't know _why. _Have you seen her? She's like a freaking goddess."

For some reason, this rubbed Jazmine up the wrong way. She found herself wanting to punch Chuck in his stupid, handsome face. "Yeah, I saw her." Jazmine replied shortly. "Every little bit of her." She added in an undertone.

"Do me a favour and don't tell anyone, will you?"

"Oh, I won't tell anyone. It's not me you have to worry about, Hannah on the other hand…"

"What about Hannah?"

"When I left her she was recruiting members for her new club. The Chuck Hansen's Abs Appreciation Group."

"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking?"

"Of course I'm joking, you idiot. Do you honestly think we have nothing better to do then go around telling people we walked in on you and your blonde goddess having sex in the showers? Newsflash, moron: no one cares! There are bigger things going on here, in case you haven't noticed. The end of the human race, for one thing! For Christ sake, grow up!"

"Are you _jealous?" _

"Oh, yeah. I'm jealous. Please, Chuck, screw me in the showers, won't you? Take me for the ride of my life!" She wasn't jealous. She _wasn't. _She was just genuinely really fucking annoyed that he thought she and Hannah were that pathetic that they'd go around telling everyone about what they'd seen. They weren't sixteen and this wasn't high school.

"Well, if you insist…"

Jazmine didn't dignify that with an answer. She stalked off after giving him a withering glare, and this time Chuck didn't follow her. A part of her, a part right at the back of her mind, knew perfectly well that Chuck hadn't been implying that she and Hannah had nothing better to do, that he was just following up on something Natalya had asked him to do, which wasn't unreasonable at all. Jazmine would have been pretty embarrassed, too, had someone walked in on her getting laid. But another part of her, a much larger part that positively dwarfed the more reasonable side of her, wanted to slap that trademark smirk off of Chuck's face. Repeatedly.

Yeah, she was jealous.


	9. Chapter 9

4 days, 8 hours, 20 minutes, 15 seconds. The longer it was, the more uneasy Jazmine felt. The next Kaiju attack was going to be huge, she could feel it. Tearing her eyes away from the war clock, she made her way across the Shatterdome. She wove in and out of the ever-present stream of people, stopping to let a forklift past more than once. She passed Striker Eureka, quickening her pace slightly lest she bump into Chuck, but he was nowhere to be seen. She could see Herc and Marshall Pentecost deep in conversation, both their expressions grave. She wondered what they were talking about.

Cherno Alpha stood proud, the last of the Mark-1s. Jazmine loved Gipsy Danger, she really did, but her admiration for Cherno Alpha was paramount. Being the first Jaegers and all, the Mark-1s had been magnificent. It had been the Mark-1s who had really turned the tables in favour of mankind. Cherno Alpha, along with Tacit Ronan and Horizon Brave had been her absolute favourites when she was younger. It went without saying that, as a child, knowing that the human race had a league of giant mechs at their disposal, ready to beat the Kaiju into submission, meant that Jazmine had slept better at night, knowing that they were out there.

Jazmine was nearly clear of Cherno Alpha when she spotted a very familiar head of golden blonde hair. It was tied up in a ponytail, and this time she wasn't stark-naked, but wearing a dark grey jumpsuit with the Cherno Alpha logo printed on the back. Natalya, Chuck had said her name was. Jazmine wrinkled her brow slightly at the memory of her and Chuck's last conversation. She may have overreacted a little…

A tinkling laugh came from Natalya's direction, and when Jazmine looked back in her general direction, she saw Natalya bending down to stroke a very plump bulldog. Jazmine recognised him as Max, the Hansen's dog. He was drooling over the attention Natalya was giving him, much like his owner, Jazmine realised with an unpleasant jolt. Chuck was sat on the floor, his feet planted a few inches apart from one another with his arms resting on his legs. He was watching Natalya make a fuss of Max with a nauseating smirk. He was probably wishing that Natalya was fondling _him. _He didn't seem to notice Jazmine's presence, thank goodness, so she was able to walk away without having to suffer the gloating smile he would have no doubt sent her way.

* * *

Natalya was rubbing the spot between Max's ears, fussing over him in Russian. What she was saying, Chuck didn't know, nor did he care, but Max seemed to like it, whatever it was.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another tall, blonde figure stop in her tracks. He didn't have to look properly to know exactly who it was. He made sure not to look at her directly, curious as to how she would act when she thought he wasn't looking. To his (reluctant) disappointment, she didn't actually do anything. She watched him watch Natalya and Max for a moment before walking off in the direction of Crimson Typhoon. He waited perhaps a minute or so before letting himself look. Jazmine was stood at the foot of the Mark-4 Jaeger, looking up at it in what he assumed was admiration. One of the triplets, he couldn't tell which one from his position, had taken a time out from the incessant game of basketball he and his brothers always seemed to be playing, and was conversing enthusiastically with her. Despite himself, and despite the fact that he was sat with his beautiful Russian goddess, Chuck was disgruntled to see that Jazmine seemed to finding whatever it was that he was saying amusing. He could hear her laughter all the way from his spot underneath Cherno Alpha. As he watched, his eyes narrowing in resentment, Jazmine laid a hand on his arm, still laughing. What could he possibly be saying that was so funny?

"Chuck?"

"Wha-?" He realised a moment too late that he'd been so busy watching Jazmine and the Wei triplet that he'd completely ignored whatever Natalya had been saying to him. He tried to look casual, as though he hadn't been watching them at all, but just looking around the Shatterdome in general, but he could tell by Natalya's face that she wasn't at all fooled. She wasn't stupid, this girl. A pity, really. Fobbing her off would be all the more difficult.

It was Natalya's turn to watch Jazmine, now. She'd followed Chuck's gaze, found Jazmine and put two and two together.

"That girl," Natalya said, her eyes still on Jazmine, "Jazmine Becket. You like her, no?"

"_Like _her?" Chuck said. "I can't stand her."

"No? You can't seem to take your eyes off her." Natalya replied, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't like her," Chuck insisted. "She doesn't like me either. Ask her, if you don't believe me." Natalya raised both eyebrows. She didn't look like she believed him. He didn't blame her, he hadn't put on his most convincing show. He was telling the truth, though. He didn't like her. He did not like her. Chuck did not like Jazmine. He _didn't. _He wouldn't like her. He refused. Not her, not Jazmine. He was a free agent, he liked to do what and who he liked. He liked to have fun without the burden of emotional attachment. Emotional attachment was nothing but a distraction, and in his line of work, distractions were something he couldn't afford.

Then why was he so bothered that she was talking with one of the Wei triplets? What concern was it of his?

It wasn't any of his concern. None whatsoever, but that didn't stop him from abandoning Natalya and Max and marching over to find out what it was exactly that had Jazmine giggling like a horny school girl.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Jazmine and who he now recognised as Jin, both turned. They both looked a little confused, Jazmine especially.

"Nothing that has anything to do with you," Jazmine replied slowly, her brow furrowing.

"Oh, yeah? Try me." Jazmine stared at him, bewildered. He folded his arms, not once taking his eyes off of her, waiting for her answer. After an awkward couple of moments, Jazmine turned back to Jin and muttered something to him in a language that Chuck didn't understand. Chinese, probably. Jin replied with a broad grin, which Jazmine returned, before excusing himself and leaving the two of them alone. Jazmine didn't spare Chuck as much as a glance before walking away from him. He followed her, of course, despite her less-than-warm attitude towards him. He hadn't forgotten their last conversation. It would be quite a while until he forgot that.

"I didn't know you could speak Chinese," he said. She was trying very hard to walk fast enough to stay in front of him, to avoid conversation perhaps, and he was very easily keeping up. Hey, he wasn't a Ranger for nothing.

"I imagine that what you don't know about me could fill an entire book," Jazmine replied. She wasn't looking at him, but instead staring resolutely ahead.

"So, what _was _he saying that was so funny?"

"He was explaining the thundercloud formation to me."

"Like you didn't know what it was already." Chuck scoffed.

"He didn't know that," Jazmine shrugged.

"You wanna know what I think?"

"Not really," Jazmine sighed, "but I've got a feeling you're going to tell me anyway."

"I think you're trying to make me jealous."

Jazmine stopped in her tracks. She considered this for a moment before looking at him properly for the first time. "Is it working?"

"So, you are?"

"No," She shook her head. "But hypothetically, if I was, would you say it was working?"

"Jealous of Jin Wei? Please, not only am I screwing the hottest girl in this place, but I pilot the only Mark-5 Jaeger that has ever existed. Enlighten me, what am I supposed to be jealous of?"

"Crimson Typhoon has three arms," Jazmine pointed out, ignoring his remark about Natalya.

"If you think that's impressive, you should let me introduce you to Striker Eureka sometime."

"Why, are they building Striker Eureka a third leg or something?"

"Nat was impressed by her," Chuck carried on, determined to get a reaction out of her. He wasn't exactly sure what he was hoping to achieve here, but there had been something immensely satisfying the last time Jazmine had yelled at him. It had been really fucking hot. He knew that if he pushed her too hard, she was eventually going to snap and beat the shit out of him, but he couldn't help himself. He found himself _wanting _to make her angry. He wanted to get a rise out of her, to just know that he could.

"Well, Natalya's sleeping with you. Clearly it doesn't take much to impress her," Jazmine replied calmly. She gave him a parting smile, the corners of her mouth hinting at a smirk, before walking away. He didn't follow her this time. He watched her retreating figure as she made her way across the Shatterdome. She didn't look back, not even once.

"What the hell am I playing at," he muttered to himself, his eyes still on her back. He had no idea what he was playing at, but he was fairly certain it was going to end in tears.


	10. Chapter 10

Hannah didn't need the Drift to know that something was up with Jazmine. She'd grown sullen, speaking only when she was spoken to, and even then she spoke mainly in one word answers and short, irritable sentences. She seemed to be off in her own world for most of the time.

Hannah didn't need the Drift to know what had caused this odd change in behaviour. She didn't miss the way the Jazmine's eyes would frequently seek out the location of the blonde mechanic, and then, when she'd found her, look around for Chuck's hulking figure. Whenever she found them a decent distance apart, she'd sort of smirk to herself before wiping her expression blank when she remembered that she wasn't alone. Other times, when she found them together (which was more often than Hannah was sure that Jazmine would have liked) her mood would only increase.

They were reaching the two and a half day mark of Jazmine's envy-fuelled mood when Hannah decided to intervene. She'd left her be, up until that moment, because she knew that Jazmine thought that she was hiding her feelings oh so well, but Jazmine had never been very good at hiding what was written all over her face.

"Do you remember when I fancied Jack Gilbert?" Hannah asked. Jazmine pulled her gaze away from where Natalya was affectionately pushing Chuck's hair back out of his face and laughing enthusiastically at something he said.

"Who?" She didn't look pleased to have been dragged away from her staring contest with the Russian beauty, who, Hannah was fairly sure, knew that Jazmine was watching and thus acted accordingly. It really wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest if Natalya was acting under Chuck's instructions.

"When I was fourteen? You don't remember? He was tall, dark hair, Casey Gilbert's brother? No? Never mind. The point is, I used to flirt with other guys to try and make him jealous."

"What are you saying? That I should flirt with someone to try and make Chuck jealous? Why would I even want to do that?"

Hannah suppressed a grin. "I never actually said anything about Chuck," Jazmine had walked straight into the trap that Hannah hadn't even been aware that she was setting. The girl had it bad. "It's funny how you jumped to that conclusion." She'd never before seen Jazmine actually develop romantic feelings for anyone. It was sort of hilarious, watching her trying to deal with having developed feelings for Chuck Hansen of all people, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Hilarious but worrying at the same time. "My point is, you're playing right into Chuck's hands. He's sat over there letting Natalya play with his hair and giggle at his jokes because he knows full well that you are sat over here watching! He's flirting with her because he's trying to make you jealous, and you could not be making it any clearer that it's working!"

"Working? It's not working. I don't care who Chuck flirts with."

"Really? Because you've been in a bad mood for the past two days now, and I don't think you've actually taken your eyes off of him in the past hour."

"I don't like Chuck." Damn, she was stubborn. Hannah knew better than to push her. The more she was pushed, the further back she'd regress.

"That's fine, I'm not going to ask you to declare your undying love for him. When you decide whether or not you have feelings for him is entirely up to you, but just believe me when I say that he's playing a game with you right now, and you're losing."

* * *

Though it pained her to admit it, she didn't think Hannah was wrong. As Hannah had been telling her story about Jake someone or other, she'd been remembering a time way back when. It was years before the first Kaiju event. Her mom had been alive and cancer-free, her dad had been present and her brothers had been…well, they'd been her brothers. She knew a lot of people who couldn't stand their siblings, but Jazmine had loved hers more than anything in the world. More so than her parents, even.

Jazmine had been seven, Raleigh eleven, and Yancy fourteen. Yancy was completely and utterly in love with a girl Jazmine barely remembered. She couldn't remember her name, nor how Yancy knew her, but she remembered her long, dark hair and the way that her voice sounded like wind chimes. Of course Yancy was in love with her. Everyone knew, including the girl, but Yancy had insisted on acting like an asshole. He'd ignore her, talking to her only if she spoke to him first, and even then he only spoke to her in an off-hand sort of way. He would flirt with her friends and be secretly overjoyed when she became jealous.

When Jazmine had asked him about it, he'd explained all about playing hard to get. Raleigh had rolled his eyes and called him an idiot. Yancy had shot back that he was too young, and that he didn't understand the callings of true love. He hadn't been _intending _to be an asshole, he was just being a teenager.

Chuck, on the other hand, well, she was fairly certain that he was intending to be an asshole. He was trying his best to get a rise out of her, and it had been working.

Why was it working?

She knew exactly why it was working. She knew why it was working and she knew why she cared and why Chuck was succeeding in making her jealous, but she'd never admit it. She'd take it to the grave if she had to, which was actually very likely to happen in her line of work.

Why him? Out of all the people she knew, out of all the people at the Shatterdome, why did it have to be him?

Over Hannah's shoulder, she saw Natalya place a kiss on Chuck's cheek and bestow upon him a suggestive smile before getting up and leaving. A fierce determination rose up in Jazmine. If it was a game Chuck wanted, them it was a game that he'd get. She'd be playing by her own rules, though, and her rules didn't exactly make for fair play.


	11. Chapter 11

Jazmine didn't start right away. That would have been ridiculously obvious. Chuck needed to think that she was just going to lie down and take whatever he threw at her, _then _she'd go to work.

_This is so immature, _a voice at the back of her mind told her. _It's pathetic. _She agreed. It was pathetic. Especially in the big scheme of things. What had happened to not bothering about whether or not she liked a guy, because at the end of the day the world was at war and that was what needed her attention, not Chuck Hansen? Well, that still applied. Nothing had changed there, except that Chuck Hansen had now demanded her attention, and until she'd captivated his just as forcefully, she wouldn't be satisfied.

It was that irritatingly competitive side of her that was responsible. She sometimes had doubts about whether or not she actually did have feelings for Chuck, and whether it wasn't just her competitive nature coming out to play to try and make him jealous because she knew that that was what he had been doing to her, and she just wanted to prove that she _could _make him jealous if she wanted to. It made everything so much more confusing than it already was.

* * *

Back in her room, Jazmine was going through her stash of photos, the ones she couldn't fit on the wall. She'd gone through them so many times that she was surprised that the images weren't burned permanently onto her retinas. Sat in her room, on her own in the silence, without Chuck and Natalya flaunting their…whatever it was they were doing, she was able to think clearly. Perhaps playing his game _wasn't _such a good idea. She was twenty-one years old, and still acting like a petulant school girl. She was a Ranger, for god sakes. Rangers didn't play immature games with boys they had crushes on. They fought Kaiju and saved the world. Crushes didn't get a look in.

She picked up what had once been her favourite photograph. It was of her and Raleigh. It had been taken on Raleigh's 19th birthday, and neither of them had realised the photo was being taken. They'd been laughing at something Yancy had said, some stupid knock knock joke, and someone, she couldn't quite remember who, had snapped this photograph of them. They looked happy, that was what she'd liked about it. They didn't look like two kids who had lost their parents and were now trying to make their way through life in the midst of an alien warzone, they just looked like kids who were laughing at a joke their big brother had told them. They looked happy and uncomplicated and like simple kids. After Raleigh had left, she'd considered ripping up every photo that she had of him, to get rid of any evidence that he'd ever existed, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

There was a knock on her door. Jazmine shoved the photos back in her drawer before getting up and pulling it open. She found Hannah on the other side. It might have just been her, but she thought Hannah looked a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Marshall Pentecost sent me. He wants to talk to you."

"What about?"

"He didn't say."

Jazmine shrugged. It wasn't unusual for the Marshall to communicate with his Rangers from time to time. Perhaps he wanted to berate her for her last performance with the Drift, or to demote her from piloting Gipsy Danger. Though the idea pained her, she couldn't exactly blame him.

* * *

"Miss Becket." The Marshall nodded his head in acknowledgement and gestured for her to sit down.

"Marshall." Jazmine replied with a curt nod.

"How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking."

He gave her a small smile before falling into silence. Jazmine felt a stab of nerves, what was it that he was about to say to her? She could tell from his demeanour that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

"You're aware of the Mark-3 restoration programme, Miss Becket?" What sort of a question was that? Of course she was aware. Gipsy Danger was the focal point of the Mark-3 restoration programme.

"I am, yes."

"And you're aware that your brother was a Mark-3 pilot?" Jazmine stiffened. Where exactly was the Marshall going with this?

"Yes…"

"We have a plan, Miss Becket. A plan to hit the breach with a thermonuclear bomb, but we need Gipsy Danger to do it, and in order for Gipsy Danger to function, we need someone who can pilot her."

"You're getting rid of me." It wasn't a question.

"No, I'm not getting rid of you, Jazmine. I'm going to look for your brother. I haven't made this decision lightly. We need Gipsy, we can't afford to wait for you," Jazmine knew that was his way of telling her that, although she was good, she wasn't quite good enough. Not as good as her brother, anyway. "I've had a list of candidates drawn up to find a co-pilot for Raleigh. You and your co-pilot are both on that list. If you can work with your brother, if you can prove yourself Drift compatible with him, then you'll be piloting Gipsy Danger as was originally planned."

"You're bringing Raleigh in?" She said it quietly, because she knew better than to lose her temper with the Marshall. She could feel it stirring, though, that special kind of anger and hatred that she held especially for her brother. She wanted to scream at the Marshall, to rage at him until he changed his mind. She wanted to tear his office apart, to rip it to pieces with her bare hands to prove her worth.

"If I can find him, yes."

"He's almost certainly dead, you know that, right?" There was no need to mention the letter.

"For all our sakes, I really hope not."

* * *

She wasn't good enough, that's what this was about. She just wasn't good enough. She wasn't a good enough Ranger, and she certainly wasn't a good enough pilot.

Jazmine Becket, sister of Raleigh and Yancy Becket. That's all she'd ever be remembered for, if she was remembered at all.

The thought made her blood boil.

"Jazmine?"

"Go away, Chuck." If she had to look at his face for even a second she knew that she would not be able to keep the lid on her increasing fury.

"C'mon, I just want to talk to you." He didn't sound like he was mocking her, and that only made her angrier.

"I said, GO AWAY!" Her feelings were not at all complicated in that moment. She didn't care about Chuck or Natalya or her plans to make Chuck jealous. None of that mattered anymore. How could it have ever mattered in the first place?

"Hey," he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her to a stop. It was a move he'd come to very much regret. Without thinking about what she was doing, she pulled her arm out of his grasp and shoved him very hard in the chest. The last time she'd done that, he hadn't moved an inch. This time he staggered back several steps, his expression a mask of pure shock.

"I told you to go away. I have nothing to say to you."

"Is this about Nat?"

Jazmine stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "Nat-? Natalya? Is this to do wi-? NO IT'S NOT TO DO WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND, YOU ABSOLUTE DICK!"

"Your brother, then?"

Jazmine froze. "How do you know about that?"

"I've known for a while now." Chuck admitted. He wasn't grinning or smirking or pulling any of his usual facial expressions. In fact, he looked a little scared.

"Oh, you've known for a while now. And it never occurred to you to tell me?"

"I couldn't tell you! We were sworn to secrecy!"

"We? _We? _Who else knows?"

Chuck wanted to slap himself. He'd really dropped himself in it. He should have left it alone, walked away when she'd told him to. "You know, I should really go. Max needs walking, you know how it is…"

"_WHO ELSE KNOWS, CHUCK?"_

"Jesus Christ, all of us, ok? All the pilots."

"Why am I the last to know? _He's my fucking brother!" _She was livid. _Livid. _How dare they!? How fucking dare they decide to go looking for her waste-of-space brother and tell the other pilots before telling her? She felt betrayed. By all of them, every single one. Hannah, her friend and co-pilot, the Marshall, even Chuck. Had he known about this the day she'd got that letter? Had he sat there with her on that platform knowing full well what the Marshall had planned? The idea made her want to rip him in half.

"Look, Jazmine," Chuck stepped forward again. Whatever he was going to say, she never found out. She didn't want to find out. She didn't want to listen to any more of his lies. She snapped. Her hand acted of its own accord; one minute it was clenched at her side, the next it was colliding with Chuck's jaw. He let out an angry cry of pain, his hands clutching where her fist had made contact with his face. "That bloody hurt!"

"It was supposed to. Now, stay the fuck away from me."


	12. Chapter 12

The annoying thing about being a Ranger was that you more often than not missed out on some of the perks the world had to offer, what with the relentless training to shape you into a Kaiju-killing machine. Alcohol was one of those perks. Jazmine had never actually had alcohol, if you didn't count the times that her mother had allowed her a sip or two from a glass of wine. Jazmine had screwed up her face in disgust whilst her parents had laughed fondly and her brothers had teased her mercilessly.

She hadn't chosen wine tonight, however. She wanted to drink herself into oblivion, and she didn't intend to do it with class.

She didn't really like the taste of vodka, just the smell made her eyes water, but mixed with coke, orange juice, or any sort of soft drink, really, she found that it went down quite nicely. She was on her third glass, and was happy to find that it was mellowing her out nicely. Her troubles seemed a long way away, although she was sure that they'd come rushing back to her at three in the morning so that she could sob very unattractively about them.

It was a crime that this was the first time that Jazmine had actually ventured out of the Hong Kong Shatterdome into Hong Kong itself. It was a shame that it had to be on such bad terms, because she was discovering that she really, _really _liked Hong Kong. And she also really, _really _liked bars. Alcohol on tap? What was there not to like?

If nothing else, there was no shortage of good looking guys that she could distract herself with if she felt like it.

Fuck the Marshall, she thought, perhaps a little unfairly. He was only doing what he had to, to try and protect what was left of the world. It wasn't his fault if she couldn't get her shit together. Ok then, fuck Chuck, with his stupid face and his ridiculous body and that intensely annoying accent. Fuck Hannah, her so-called best friend. After everything they'd been through together, after everything they'd achieved, she would have never thought her capable of keeping something like this from her. She could understand why Chuck would keep it from her, since they weren't exactly friends, but Hannah? They weren't just friends, they were co-pilots, that kind of bond was supposed to be unbreakable. Fuck the Mark-3 restoration programme, and mostly, fuck Raleigh. She didn't care if she was on that damn list of candidates, there was no way she was going anywhere near the Drift with her brother. There was no way she going anywhere near anything with her brother. She didn't want anything to do with him.

"Fucking Raleigh," she muttered to herself, downing the rest of her fourth glass.

"Sorry?" Jazmine turned. The guy next to her was watching her, amused. He was good looking, she noted. Tall, dark blonde hair, brown eyes. Damn, there wasn't a lot she wouldn't have done to have him show her a good time.

"Talking to myself." Jazmine replied. "Don't worry about it."

"Who's Raleigh, and why are you angry at him?"

"I'm angry at everyone," Jazmine said. She took a swig from the glass in front of her. Her fifth drink. For a more experienced drinker, it wouldn't have been much of a problem, but she could feel it going to her head. She could _really _feel it. "And it's a long story."

"He your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Jazmine began to laugh. "I barely have time to brush my hair from day to day, never mind maintain an actual relationship."

"Why, what do you do?"

"I'm a Jaeger pilot," she paused. That wasn't entirely true. "Or, at least, I was," she took another swig from her drink. She wasn't half as drunk as she intended to be.

His eyes widened. She supposed it wasn't every day that you met a Jaeger pilot, even a crappy one like her. "A Jaeger pilot? That's so fucking cool!"

"Don't get too excited," Jazmine halted him in his tracks, certain that he was about to go off on a Jaeger appreciation rant. "I never actually made it out of the freaking Shatterdome before I was replaced by my bastard brother."

"Why were you replaced?"

"Again, long story. Drift compatibility is a bitch."

* * *

How exactly she and the guy whose name she couldn't remember ended up down the alley behind the bar, she had no idea. That part of the evening had already been erased from her memory, washed away by the unhealthy amounts of alcohol coursing through her veins. She was drunk and she _liked _it. Why didn't people do this _all _the time? Why had nobody taken the liberty of telling her that drinking yourself stupid was, in fact, the best pastime? It was hard to worry about Kaiju and Jaegers and stupid absentee brothers when there was enough alcohol in your bloodstream to turn you into a walking keg. Her head was fuzzy and it was hard to form any clear thoughts. When she spoke, the words came out with difficulty, like they had to fight their way past the barrier of alcohol she'd consumed. She could barely stand up straight, but it didn't matter, her new friend was helping with that. It was hard to worry about anything when your legs were wrapped around the waist of a _very _attractive man. His hands were knotted in her hair, his lips moving furiously against hers. Her fingers were fumbling with his belt buckle, which was turning out to be difficult to do with numb fingers. Finally, after what seemed like hours (but which was actually seconds) she managed to get it undone. She was practically shivering in anticipation (that might have been the cold) an—

"Jazmine?" No. No, no, no, no, _WHY? _Fucking Hannah, why did she have to come looking for her? Why couldn't she have at least given her until the morning, didn't she deserve that much?

"What the hell is going on?" Oh, _seriously? _She brought _Chuck _along for the ride? Hooray!

Jazmine and who would have been her drunken one-night stand broke apart, reluctantly. They peered over at the mouth of the alleyway. Hannah and Chuck were striding down towards them with a nauseating aura of confidence and self-righteousness, the kind that only Jaeger pilots possessed.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Hannah claimed, as though she thought Jazmine would care.

"You found me," Jazmine replied. Talking was difficult. Her words felt heavy, and getting them out without tripping over them was a challenge.

"Is that a gun in your pocket, mate, or are you just pleased to see me?" Chuck asked her would-be-suitor unpleasantly.

"Who busted your lip, _mate?" _He retorted, glaring at Chuck. "I'd like to send them flowers."

"That would be the girl you're trying to rape."

"_Rape? _Does she look unwilling to you?" He'd removed himself from Jazmine's grasp and was now stood almost nose-to-nose with Chuck. They were more or less the same height, but Chuck was all muscle. Though she wished otherwise, it really wasn't difficult to see who would win if it came to blows.

"She's fucking hammered!" Oh, Chuck was actually pretty angry. Jazmine momentarily forgot that she was furious at Chuck, had punched him only hours earlier, and took a moment to appreciate how _hot _it was to see him so mad.

"No. No'm not," Jazmine put in, feeling the need to defend the guy she'd been perfectly happy to give herself to in an alleyway behind a bar. He wasn't to blame here, he hadn't been the one plying her with alcohol. No, she'd done that perfectly well herself. She was also fairly sure that it had been her idea to, y'know, fuck in the alleyway. Like, 60% sure. Her memory wasn't very clear.

"Look at you, you can barely stand!" Chuck rounded on her. She realised that she was leaning against a pillar of wooden boxes in an attempt to keep herself upright, and apparently wasn't doing a very good job of it, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to prove Chuck wrong. Who did he think he was, following her into Hong Kong and destroying her only chance of carnal happiness? Defiantly, she forced herself to stand up straight, pushed her way between him and the guy, and made to flounce away, out of the alleyway. And she would have managed it, too, she was sure, had she not tripped over her own feet, staggered sideways, into Hannah, and ended up in a heap on the floor. She started laughing. Well, giggling, really. She'd hit her head, probably, but she couldn't feel it. The pain was there, she was sure, but in some far off corner of her body that was unable to access in her current state. She offered no resistance when Hannah pulled her back up. Had she been in a better state, she would have punched Hannah in the face. Not for pulling her to her feet, but for the whole Raleigh thing. If Chuck had deserved it, then Hannah certainly did.

"You ok?" Hannah muttered as she pulled one of Jazmine's arms around her neck so that she could keep her upright.

"D-don't talk t'me."

Chuck had backed the guy up against the back wall of the alleyway. "I'm gonna let you go, just this once. Consider this your warning. If you ever come near her again, if you as much as look at her—"

"You'll what? Kill me?"

"I won't have to. When she wakes up tomorrow and realises that she was taken advantage of, I would be surprised if she doesn't come looking for you herself. I imagine ripping a man limb from limb with your bare hands is actually quite satisfying." He turned away and made to take Jazmine from Hannah, so that Hannah could lead the way. However, apparently her scorned lover wasn't finished. He would learn (very soon) that trying to get a rise out of Chuck Hansen was a very foolish thing to do.

"You know, she told me about you. Chuck, isn't it? She had a lot to say about you. Arrogant, egotistical, a moronic show-off. She went on for quite a while, actually. You wanna know what I think?"

Chuck turned around slowly, his jaw clenched, as well as his fists. "I'd advise you to stop talking."

"I think you quite like her. I don't think this has anything to do with her being drunk, but the fact that it was me about to do her, not you."

Chuck didn't say a word. In a move that mirrored Jazmine's from earlier on, he swung his fist right into the other man's face. Hard. He could have beaten him to a pulp quite easily, but he wouldn't be wasting his time. "I kill monsters for a living," Chuck told him. "Don't think I won't hesitate to add you to my count."

* * *

Jazmine lay fully clothed on her bed. Hannah had placed a bucket by the side for the morning, when Jazmine would undoubtedly need it. She'd also attempted to help Jazmine out of her clothes and into something more comfortable, but Jazmine had resisted all of the help that Hannah had offered her. Even in her intoxicated state, her anger at her friend had not subsided.

Chuck had sent Hannah away with the promise that he would look after Jazmine, who did not seem at all opposed to him, despite their confrontation earlier. He placed a glass of water on Jazmine's bedside table. Even if she didn't want it now, she'd certainly need it later.

"You know, Hannah didn't mean to hurt you." He sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Should've told me," she murmured without opening her eyes.

"She wanted to. We all did. None of us were happy about keeping it from you, but the Marshall made us promise."

"Boo-fucking-hoo."

Chuck rolled his eyes but didn't pursue the subject. There was no talking to her, not like this. She was even more stubborn drunk than she was sober, if that was even possible.

"Here, I brought you some water. You should have some now, you're going to feel like hell in the morning."

"No."

"Jazmine—"

"Why're you doing this?" She opened her eyes and pushed herself slowly into a sitting position. Drunk though she was, she looked fairly lucid. Her gaze was hard but steady, and her words, though still slow and heavy, weren't slurred and she didn't seem to be having nearly as much trouble getting them out in a coherent manner as she had been when they'd found her in the alley.

"Doing what?"

"Being nice to me. Looking after me. Shouldn't you be with your…" she trailed off. Chuck wondered if she'd lost the thread of the conversation.

"My what?" He prompted.

"Girlfriend."

"Natalya isn't my girlfriend," Chuck said slowly. He looked away from her and gazed down at his hands instead. He wondered whether things would have been simpler if Natalya was his girlfriend. Probably not. It wouldn't have changed the way that he felt.

"I thought you liked her," Jazmine was beside him now. He could feel her gaze on his face, though he refused to look at her.

"I do! I did…I just, I don't know. Things change." He brought his gaze up to meet Jazmine's. She was watching him carefully. He had no idea what she was thinking, and that frustrated him. People in general were like open books, so easy to read, but Jazmine? She was closed, locked, locked again, wrapped in chains and sealed in concrete.

"What things?"

Chuck shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. Not now, not with her. He could barely stand to think about it. Jazmine bit down on her bottom lip. She seemed to be considering something. He looked away from her, over at the door. He thought about leaving, he'd had more than enough for one day.

She was drunk and overconfident. What came over her, she had no idea. Had she been sober, her mind would have screamed at her to not do what she was about to, and she wouldn't have done it and that would have been the end of it, but the alcohol seemed to have killed her mental filter, or at least knocked it unconscious, because her left hand moved of its own accord and ended up cupping Chuck's right cheek. She gently pulled his face around so that he was looking at her again. She leaned in and saw Chuck's eyes widen as he realised her intent. She hesitated. Her eyes found his and for an unbearable couple of seconds, there was nothing but dead silence between them. That was, until Jazmine took the plunge and kissed him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chuck forgot where he was. He forgot where he was, what the circumstances were, even what day it was. The only thing he knew for certain was that Jazmine had kissed him, was still kissing him, and he was kissing her back. She was straddling him, now. Her knees were either side of his thighs. Her arms were wound around his neck. He had one hand in her hair, the other had crept beneath her shirt and was flat against her back. The kiss had started off gently. Even hesitantly, on Jazmine's part, but when she'd realised that he wasn't going to push her away, she'd kissed him harder, longer and urgently, and he'd reciprocated happily.

And then he remembered where he was, what the circumstances were and what day it was. Jazmine was not as drunk as she had been, but still pretty far gone. Had he not chewed out a guy only hours before for making a move on her when she was very clearly drunk out of her mind? Was he not now doing the same thing? There was no way that Jazmine would have kissed him had she been sober. There was no situation in which the opportunity would present itself. He didn't want to do anything with her that he knew she wouldn't want to do sober.

Chuck pulled away from the kiss reluctantly. "Jazmine," he said quietly.

"What?" She replied breathlessly, pulling back to look at him.

"We can't do this."

"Why not? I thought you liked me?"

"I-that's not the point. You're drunk. And upset."

"Does it look like I give a damn?"

"I do! We can't do it...not like this."

Jazmine let out a sigh of frustration, and he manoeuvred himself out from between her legs and stood up. He looked down at her. For a moment she wouldn't look at him. She was staring resolutely ahead, her expression a blank canvas. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face, and finally looked up at him. "You should go." She said quietly.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked her. It was awkward now, but not nearly as awkward as it would have been Jazmine had woken up with a hangover and Chuck in her bed. Where would they have gone from there? He imagined it would have resulted in a black eye and a broken nose.

"Just go. Please."

* * *

Dry mouth. Throbbing headache. Uneasy stomach. "Fucking hell," Jazmine groaned in a hoarse voice. She opened her eyes reluctantly, beyond grateful to find that her room was still dim enough to count as dark. She turned her head to the side and saw that there was a glass of water on her bedside table. She had no idea who had put it there, or when they'd put it there, but she was glad. She pushed herself up so that she could take a drink and re-hydrate her poor, aching and hung-over body. Apparently her body had other ideas, though, because the second she moved, she was hit by a wave of nausea. She didn't have time to get to a toilet or a sink, all she could do was make sure she didn't throw up all over her bed. She leaned over the side of the bed, heaving. Whoever had left the water had also supplied her with a bucket, she realised, when the contents of her stomach didn't hit the floor as she'd been expecting.

She felt absolutely awful. She'd never felt anything like it. She was never drinking again. Never. She'd have rather been stepped on by Gipsy Danger than feel the way she was feeling.

There was a light knock on her door, although to Jazmine it sounded like the person on the other side was pounding relentlessly to get her attention.

"Go away!" Jazmine shouted, her voice dry and cracked. She didn't want any visitors.

"Jaz, open the door," came Hannah's voice. Wow, just when she thought things couldn't get any worse. She didn't want to talk to Hannah right now, especially in her state. She wasn't ready to listen to anything Hannah had to say, she wasn't ready to be reasonable.

Hannah wasn't giving up, though, so Jazmine forced herself up out of bed, almost fell into the bedside table when her head began to spin, and made her way slowly over to the door. Hannah would be lucky if Jazmine didn't throw up all over her. She pulled the door open and leaned against the frame for moral support.

"Hey," Hannah gave her a sympathetic smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I think I might be dying."

"I'm not surprised. You almost drank the bar dry." Hannah laughed.

"Well, you know, go big or go home."

Hannah grinned. "Can I come in?"

"If you must," Jazmine sighed. "But I'd really rather you didn't."

The two of them sat side by side on Jazmine's bed in silence. Jazmine didn't have the energy to start up a conversation, not when the only conversation they would be having was about Raleigh, and the mere mention of Raleigh would only rile her up. After a few minutes, though, Jazmine found the silence more irritating and awkward than anything, so she grabbed the glass of water, took a long swig (and it felt fucking great. She swore that she'd never tasted anything so good).

"Are we gonna talk about it?" Hannah asked when Jazmine set the glass back down on the bedside table.

"Talk about what?" She knew exactly to what Hannah was referring, but she was going to do her best to avoid it, anyway, even though she knew that as this point, it was pretty much unavoidable.

"You know what. I'll bet you're pretty damn angry at me right now," well, there was no getting out of it now, Jazmine thought with a sigh. They were going to talk about it, and they were going to talk about it now.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me." If she'd have been in any better shape, she might have said it more forcefully, perhaps even stood up to yell, but she was sure that any sudden movement on her part (or any movement at all) would result in the contents of her stomach being spilled all over the floor, and that wasn't something she wanted to do with Hannah there.

"I wanted to, I really did. The Marshall forbade it. And I mean, he really aggressively forbade it. In any other circumstance I would have told you, but this is _Raleigh. _He's such a sore subject with you. Whenever someone mentions him, you tense up and your face hardens and you become this ball of pure rage." Hannah paused, rubbed her hands over her face, and continued. "If it's any consolation, I don't agree with it either. Bringing Raleigh in."

"Why not?" Jazmine knew why _she _didn't want Raleigh bringing in, but what did Hannah have against him?

"I've felt what it did to you when he left. I've felt it all, all these emotions you've been dealing with for the past five years. It was crippling." Jazmine didn't have anything to say to that. She knew perfectly well that Hannah had experienced her some of her feelings towards Raleigh, but they'd never acknowledged it before. Never talked about it. They hadn't had to, it was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that neither one of them would bring it up. Jazmine had never wanted to talk about it, still didn't want to, and Hannah had always respected that. In light of recent events, however, it looked like she was going to have to confront her issues with Raleigh sometime soon. Jazmine wasn't sure if she was ready.

* * *

"Please just kill me. I don't want to eat, I just want to die." Jazmine pleaded with Hannah, who, despite Jazmine's constant protests, was taking her to get some breakfast. Yeah, like that was what she needed to settle her stomach full of alcohol.

"You'll feel better." Hannah seemed a lot happier now that Jazmine had (sort of) forgiven her. She still didn't agree with the fact that Raleigh's impending return had been kept from her, but she understood that Hannah hadn't meant to hurt her. She knew Hannah inside and out, she knew that, out of all the people she knew, it was Hannah that she could trust.

"No, I won't! Just thinking about food makes me," she made a face to prove her point, but Hannah wasn't taking no for an answer.

"When was the last time you actually ate?"

"I don't know. Like yesterday morning? No. No. Oh, I don't know."

"Max! C'mere!" An all-too familiar voice rang through the hallway, just out of sight. From behind them, Max the bulldog waddled past, following the sound of his owner's voice. Shit, Jazmine thought. She didn't want to see Chuck. She didn't think she could face him after what she'd done. It was all well and good to argue that she hadn't been in her right mind, but she was fairly certain that Chuck wouldn't see it that way, and she was also fairly certain that he'd be dead set on getting his own back.

Chuck rounded the corner, Max's lead in one hand. Sure enough, his bust lip shone like a freaking beacon. She hadn't meant to hit him so hard, she'd been angry and she'd just wanted him to go away. Still, she probably could have achieved that without punching him in the face.

Chuck, perhaps sensing her gaze, looked over at the two of them. He froze, which Jazmine hadn't been expecting. She'd been expecting an entire song and dance about how she'd punched him in the face, unprovoked. Perhaps a verse or two about her poor life choices whilst he smirked that intensely irritating smirk.

Chuck, however, stared over awkwardly at them for a moment. He raised his hand almost subconsciously to his mouth, presumably remembering the way her fist had made land there. With a half-glance at Max, Chuck turned on his heel and walked back the way that he'd come, Max at his heels.

"Did he just…?"

"Walk away awkwardly to avoid having to talk to me? Yeah, I think so."

"Why?"

"The last time I saw him, I punched him in the face. I guess it was a pretty good punch."

Hannah looked at her for a moment. She was frowning. "Yeah, I guess so."


	14. Chapter 14

"You're not into this, are you?" Natalya ran a hand through her long, blonde hair, clearly irritated. They were lay on Chuck's bed, in the early stages of what had looked to be a promising hour or two of distraction. Half an hour in, however, things weren't looking so good after all.

"Of course I'm into it," Chuck said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You tell me," Natalya replied with a shrug. "We've been at this for thirty minutes and you've still got your shirt on."

"You're telling me off because I still have my shirt on?" Chuck asked uncertainly.

"No, I'm telling you off because you're showing no enthusiasm whatsoever. Do you like me? Do you even find me attractive?"

"You know I do." Chuck was out of his depth here. What did she want him to do, declare his undying love for her? Up until then, their 'thing', whatever it was, had been nothing but making out in places that they shouldn't, and having sex in even more places that they shouldn't. It was no strings attached, or so he'd thought. He hadn't been aware that his performance had been lacking in enthusiasm, but clearly he wasn't as good at multi-tasking as he'd initially thought. Whilst his body had been pressed up against Natalya's, one hand in her hair, the other keeping her leg in position around his waist, his mind had been elsewhere, thinking about somebody else.

"Then what's the problem?"

"There is no problem!" Chuck insisted. There was absolutely no need to mention that Jazmine had kissed him. And that he'd kissed her back. And that he'd liked it. A lot. There was no need to mention that at all. "Look, do you want to do this or not?"

Natalya surveyed him for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "Forget you. _I'm _not into it anymore." She swung her legs off the side of the bed and pulled her hair back up into her usual ponytail. No strings attached, which idiot had thought that one up? There were _always _strings attached, a lesson he was just now learning.

"Look, Nat, you don't have to go," Chuck said from behind her, in a last ditch attempt to secure his afternoon shag.

"Do you take me for an idiot, Chuck?" He opened his mouth to say that, no, he did not, but she cut him off. "I know what I am to you. I know that I'm your Jazmine substitute." _Jazmine substitute? _Where an earth had she got that idea from? His confusion must have shown on his face. "Do you think I can't see it? The way you look at her. Sometimes I wonder if you even realise it yourself, but when you look at her, it's like you're seeing the sun for the first time. And then you look back at me and you're disappointed."

Chuck was speechless. He hadn't been aware that Natalya had been paying so much attention. Then again, he hadn't been aware that he'd been looking at Jazmine in that way, so he hadn't realised that there was anything to hide. He didn't have any clever comeback, no way to retaliate, because any protestation on his part now would only make it blindingly obvious that what she was saying was true, even though he was convinced that she was wrong. She had to be wrong. There was no way that any of what she was saying made any sense.

Natalya sighed. "You're falling in love and you don't even know it." She gave him a sad sigh before leaving him alone.

* * *

"Falling in love," Chuck muttered to himself. "Like hell I am." Natalya had left his door wide open, and he couldn't find the energy to get up and close it behind her. Her parting words were still ringing in his ears. True or not, he didn't like them. He didn't like them at all. He wasn't falling in love with Jazmine. He _wasn't. _If he was falling in love, he'd certainly know about it. He imagined that those kind of emotions weren't something you overlooked easily. If he were falling in love, it would be pretty fucking hard to miss. "In love with Jazmine Becket," he sneered. "Please."

"You're in love with who?" His father's voice sounded through his open door. Chuck made a mental note to close and firmly lock his door the next time he wanted to make those sort of comments under his breath. Herc appeared at the door, Max in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. He let go of the lead and Max padded over to Chuck.

"I'm not in love with anyone." Chuck replied through gritted teeth as he bent down to stroke Max. Herc was the last person Chuck wanted to talk to about Jazmine. You know, if he'd wanted to talk about her at all. Which he didn't.

"Jazmine Becket, eh? Nice girl. Way too good for you." Herc teased his son.

"Are you done?" Chuck retorted with a glare in Herc's direction.

"Who did that?" Herc gestured towards Chuck's bust lip with his coffee mug.

"Jazmine," Chuck muttered. He was giving all of his attention to Max and next to none to his father in the hopes that Herc would take the hint and get lost.

Herc roared with laughter. "Brilliant." He took a swig from his coffee, almost choking on it when he saw the look on his son's face. Chuck was giving him a death glare, highly unappreciative of the input his father had given to an already undesirable day. "Alright, I get it. I'm leaving!" Herc said, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Shut the door!" Chuck called after his father's retreating figure.

* * *

The mess hall was almost empty, which wasn't surprising given the late hour. The Kaidonovsky's were over in the corner, playing what looked suspiciously like strip poker. He could see Hannah sat at a table with a man that Chuck didn't know. There were a few others, dotted around here and there, but none that Chuck recognised. He couldn't see Natalya anywhere. He supposed she was avoiding him. He was certainly avoiding her. He turned around and saw Jin Wei tucked away in a corner with a long-haired blonde. He couldn't tell who it was from the back of her head, but he had a pretty good idea. Oh, who was he kidding? He knew exactly who it was. He'd recognise the back of her head anywhere. He could have argued it was because she had a very distinguishable back of a head, but she didn't. There was nothing about the back of her head that set her apart from any of the other long-haired blonde's here at the Hong Kong Shatterdome.

As he watched, Jin leaned forward to brush a strand of hair back. He whispered something and Jazmine cocked her head to the side. He didn't need to see her face to know that she was smirking. It made him feel sick. It was almost as if she knew that he was there, and was acting accordingly to set him off. He wondered if this was her punishment for him ending their kiss the night before. Was she really that angry that he'd put an end to a kiss, that could have easily turned into a lot more, that she would have almost certainly regretted in the morning? Was she really that angry that he hadn't taken advantage of her?

Falling in love, Natalya had said. Falling in love and he didn't even know it. Was this what love was? A feeling of sickening jealousy? A fiery rage in the pit of his stomach? An urge to march over and rip Jin's head from his shoulders?

If that was love, then he wanted no part in it.


	15. Chapter 15

What was she going to do, now that Raleigh was being brought in the pilot Gipsy? Being a pilot was everything that she'd worked towards, she didn't _know _how to do anything else. What, was she supposed to just leave and go out and get a regular old job? An office job, perhaps?

Marshall Pentecost had said that she was on the list of candidates for Raleigh's co-pilot, but who were they kidding? She knew as well as the Marshall that there was no way she'd be able to get into a Jaeger with Raleigh. He'd be lucky if they could share a room without it coming to blows, never mind head-space.

Raleigh was being brought in, and Jazmine was getting pushed out to watch from the side-lines. She was going to be living in her brother's shadow. Again. She was always just going to be Raleigh Becket's sister.

Her hangover had passed for the most part, but her body still ached. The fact that she was sat outside, up on the roof, in December, probably wasn't helping much, either, but she couldn't bring herself to move. The roof, apart from the platform overlooking Gipsy Danger, was her favourite place to escape to when she didn't want to talk to anyone. It was impractical in the winter months, obviously, so she didn't go up there much, but the Raleigh situation was reason enough. She might have settled for the platform, but people knew that that was her bolt-hole. Tendo, Hannah, even Chuck. Nobody knew that she had a soft-spot for the roof, which was great because she really, _really _didn't want to talk to anyone. What she really wanted was to sit up there for so long that she turned to ice and didn't have to deal with anything or anyone, especially not her brother. She wondered if the world wouldn't be better off if she just stepped off the roof and let the ocean take her, the way it had taken Yancy. When Raleigh arrived, there would be nothing left for her there. There would be nothing left for her _anywhere. _The Jaeger programme was her life, she didn't fit in anywhere else.

The sound of the door the led back inside opening roused Jazmine from her sombre thoughts.

"What are you doing?" Chuck's voice was quiet. Scared, even. When Jazmine turned around, she saw that he was watching her warily from the door. She blinked a few times before realising what her position, stood right on the edge of the roof, must look like.

"I wasn't, you know," she gestured to the empty space to the left of her. "I wasn't going to jump, if that's what you were thinking." She'd thought about it. She'd thought about it every time she'd come up, but at the end of the day, at the end of every single day, she was never going to be brave enough to deliberately walk down the path to her own destruction.

"What are you doing up here?" Chuck asked. He wasn't his usual self, she noted. All that bravado, the arrogance and self-importance, it was all gone. He seemed beaten down, a shadow of his former self.

"What are _you _doing up here?"

Chuck shrugged. "It's the only place I can hear myself think."

"You ok? You seem…not yourself."

"I'm fine. You should go. Jin's probably looking for you." Chuck dismissed her. Although she was cold and aching and upset, and Chuck was clearly not himself, this still rubbed her up the wrong way. Who did he think he was, telling her to go? She had been there first! If anything, she should have been telling him to get lost, but she hadn't, because she'd been perfectly willing to reach out and actually talk to him, since he seemed to be down about _something_, and she kind of owed him since he punched him in the face and all, but Chuck clearly wasn't having that. Secondly, _Jin? _Where had that even come from?

"Excuse me?" Jazmine replied coldly, crossing her arms.

Chuck opened his mouth to retort, and Jazmine prepared herself for whatever scathing remark was about to come charging at her, but it never came. Chuck closed his mouth, shook his head and looked down at the ground. "Nothing. I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry. It's none of my business."

"Are you sure you're ok?" She'd grown so accustomed to Chuck's usual behaviour; the irritating smirks, the over-inflated ego and the constant sarcasm. Seeing his behaviour change so drastically was unnerving. What was it that was weighing him down so much that he was…well, not an asshole?

"I'm fine." Chuck replied shortly.

Jazmine nodded. The atmosphere between them had quickly become very awkward, and she'd have had to be blind to not realise that he wanted to be alone. She walked slowly towards the door. She stopped when she was level with him, noticing his bust lip. She must have hit him harder than she'd thought. "Sorry about that," she gestured towards his lip and he flinched away from her. She drew her hand back, frowning. "I'm apologising. I wasn't going to do it again."

"I wasn't—never mind. Doesn't matter."

"Right." She moved past him and continued on her way towards the door. She paused and looked back when she reached the door. Chuck was still stood in the exact same position, probably waiting for her to leave. What was _wrong _with him? she wondered.

* * *

Jazmine reached out as if to caress his jaw, though that might have just been his imagination. He jerked away from her hand. He didn't want her to touch him. He was angry and confused and downright miserable, especially after seeing the way she'd acted with Jin, and he didn't want whatever added confusion would have come if she'd laid her hand against his skin. She looked hurt as she drew her hand away, but he refused to let himself care. He was glad that she was hurt.

No he wasn't.

When he'd seen her with Jin, though he hadn't seen much, it had felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach, and having had that happen quite a few times, he knew exactly how it felt, but he didn't wish the same thing on her. He wouldn't have wished that feeling on anyone.

Why? Why did it have to be her? Why not Natalya, who clearly liked him. If it had been Natalya, there would have been no problem whatsoever! They'd already slept together, they wouldn't have had to conquer that milestone. But no. He, Chuck Hansen, had to develop feelings for the _one girl _in the Shatterdome, and probably the world, that would never return his feelings. Sure, she had kissed him, but she had been drunk at the time so he wasn't sure that that counted. She hated him, and he'd hated her and that had worked just fine, up until the moment that he'd realised that he didn't actually hate her quite as much as he thought he did.


	16. Chapter 16

Operation Pitfall. That was the name of Marshall Pentecost's last-ditch attempt at closing the breach and ending the madness that was befalling their world. The general idea was that Striker Eureka, the only Mark-5, would deploy a thermonuclear bomb down the throat of the breach, whilst Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha and Gipsy Danger stood guard, acting as a defensive perimeter against any Kaiju that might grace them with their presence. This was Pentecost's Big Move, the one he'd been saving until it were absolutely necessary, the one card you save until the very last moment because you hope it'll wipe the board. This was why he was bringing Raleigh in, because he needed the best of the best, and her brother came under that category, apparently.

Jazmine wasn't even entirely sure why she'd been involved in the briefing, given the fact that she would almost certainly _not _be piloting Gipsy, but she was glad to be included all the same. They were all there, all the pilots. Cheung, Hu and Jin. Aleksis and Sasha. Hannah. Herc and Chuck.

Every single face in the room held the same grave expression. There was no guaranteeing that this plan would even work. If it didn't, then they were all well and truly screwed. There were no more Jaegers, and there wouldn't be time to create new ones before the next attack, she was sure.

However, if it _did _work, not all of them would return, if any. Pentecost's plan was essentially a suicide mission. Not that that mattered. Jazmine knew that every person in that room, herself included, would walk into a suicide mission without question if it meant saving the world.

Operation Pitfall. It was their last stand and they all knew it.

Standing in Pentecost's office, Jazmine realised that it was the first time she'd seen Chuck in almost a week, after their encounter on the roof. She had the distinct impression that he'd been avoiding her, though _why _exactly he'd want to avoid her, she didn't quite understand. Hannah had told her all about _that _night, when they'd found her down a back alley making out with a completely random guy. She remembered very little from that night. There were flashes, but nothing concrete. It was like trying to remember a dream. From what Hannah had told her, however, and from what she (sort of) remembered, she couldn't understand why Chuck was avoiding her. Unless he was upset about her punching him…but that couldn't be it. She was sure that wasn't it, because Chuck wouldn't have been upset about that. It wasn't his style.

He was stood between his father and Sasha. She didn't know whether it was just her imagination, but he seemed to be deliberately avoiding her gaze. He was watching the Marshall just a little _too _hard. His arms were folded across his chest and his jaw was clenched. She was about to give up and look away when he glanced over in her direction. She caught his eye and gave him a small smile. He didn't return it, just stared at her for a brief moment before turning his attention back to the Marshall. Jazmine frowned. She was used to Chuck being hostile towards her, had even come to expect it, and she'd never cared, because that's just how things were between them, up until recently. But this wasn't hostility, this was something entirely different and she had no idea what, and this time she did care. Whether she liked it or not, her relationship with Chuck had changed over the past few weeks, and though she hated to admit it, she _cared _about how he acted towards her, and how he felt towards her. She cared about him, but judging by his attitude, the feeling wasn't mutual.

Maybe his thing with Natalya was more serious than she'd initially thought. Nothing that he'd said had implied that they were doing anything other than sleeping together, but then again, Chuck wasn't in the habit of sharing the details of his life with her, so perhaps they were together. Perhaps Natalya was his girlfriend.

The idea made her feel sick.

The Marshall dismissed them and, like a group of school kids, everyone started shuffling towards the door. Hannah was in front of her, talking to the Kaidanovsky's about something, she couldn't hear what. Jin Wei slipped into the space next to her and greeted her with a friendly smile.

"How are you?" He asked her. He was wearing red, Jazmine noticed. She didn't think she'd ever seen him in any other colour. She couldn't imagine him in any other colour.

"I'm ok."

"Are you?" Jazmine knew that he was referring to Raleigh. Now that the news of his impending arrival had been made public, it seemed that everybody was very keen to talk about him. Three people had already asked her if she could get them his autograph.

"Gipsy needs a pilot," she said with a shrug. "If I can't do it, then who better than my brother?" There were a lot of people that she could have come up with, in answer to her own question, but what did she know? Jin laid a hand on her arm in a gesture of sympathy and Jazmine smiled. She didn't want his sympathy, but it would have been rude to say so, especially when she knew that he only meant well. Jin was a good guy, someone that she could imagine becoming a good friend, and Jazmine needed all the friends she could get.

They had just passed through the door when Jazmine glanced behind them, more out of habit than anything, and realised that Chuck and Herc were directly behind them. Chuck looked at her and for a moment she considered pulling him to one side and _demanding _that he tell her what was wrong with him, why he was acting so weirdly towards her, but that would have only been a waste of her time. If Chuck didn't want her to know something, then no amount of demands on her part would change that, and her demands would only make him a hundred times less likely to tell her.

She turned back around and mentally cursed herself. It was nothing to do with her, whatever it was. He had his own problems, just like she had hers, but that didn't mean that they were anything to do with her. Jesus, who would have thought that she'd ever be worrying about what was wrong with Chuck Hansen? Certainly not her.

Hannah was waiting for her outside in the hall. Jin gave the pair of them a parting smile and a wave before tearing off after his brothers. Chuck pushed his way past her, shoving her out of his way, and made off in the opposite direction.

"He seems…" Hannah trailed off, watching Chuck stalk away from them.

"Tell me about it." Jazmine replied, dragging her gaze away from Chuck's retreating figure and walking in the opposite direction, the same direction that Wei triplets had taken.

"What's wrong with him?"

Jazmine shrugged. "How should I know?"

"I don't know. I thought he might have told you," Hannah replied, a slight question in her voice.

"He hasn't told me anything. Kinda feels like he hates me."


	17. Chapter 17

Jazmine glanced at him and Chuck could tell that she wanted to say something, but she didn't. She looked at him for a moment, and he looked right back, and then she turned back to continue her conversation with Jin Wei. Chuck didn't want to hear whatever it was that they were talking about, but found himself straining to listen to their words anyway.

Every time Chuck looked at Jazmine, he was forcefully reminded of kissing her. He was reminded of the way her hair had felt between his fingers, the way her lips had felt working with his, of how fucking _good _it felt. And then he was reminded that her motivation for kissing him had been nothing but a drunken whim.

He thought that they would have talked about it by now. He didn't _want _to talk about it, but he'd expected Jazmine to confront him about it the first chance she got, but she hadn't said a word. Hadn't even acknowledged that it had happened, which led him to wonder if she actually remembered, and if she didn't, should he tell her? He could only imagine what a painfully awkward conversation that would turn out to be.

What did Jin Wei have that he didn't? Chuck wondered. Why was it that Jazmine seemed happier talking to him than she ever did when she communicated with Chuck? Sure, Crimson Typhoon had three arms, but Striker was a Mark-5!

_Well, he's probably nice to her, _his moral compass muttered. It wasn't a part of himself that he listened to often. "_I'm _nice to her!" Chuck hissed under his breath. "Sort of." Not at all, would have been more accurate.

Jesus Christ, what was wrong with him? Why did he even _care? _How had he let this happen? It was almost as if his body were mocking him by making him develop feelings for Jazmine fucking Becket.

What a fucking mess.

* * *

Four days. That's how long Jazmine waited for Chuck to talk to her before giving up and deciding to seek him out herself. His solid silence was unprecedented. She wanted to know if it was something that she'd done to upset him, or if it were something entirely unrelated. And, why not admit it? She missed talking to him, even if all they did was argue.

She started in the mess hall, the obvious starting point, and wasn't at all surprised to find him not there. He was definitely avoiding _someone, _whether it was her or not. Not including the meeting in Pentecost's office, she hadn't seen Chuck around in over a week.

The Combat room was empty, much to Jazmine's disappointment. Given the fact that it was 11pm, it wasn't unusual for it to be empty, but she had hoped to find Chuck in there, working out his frustrations.

She asked Herc if he had any idea where his son was, but Herc shook his head. "Kid barely speaks to me." He sounded sad. It was no secret that, despite their incredible performance as co-pilots, Chuck and his dad didn't have the best relationship. She wondered if they'd get on any better had Chuck's mom not been killed. She wondered how different Chuck would be, if his mom were alive. She would have quite liked to have met her. Jazmine was willing to bet that she was a hell of a woman.

The platform overlooking Gipsy Danger, where she and Chuck had had their first actual conversation, was deserted. She supposed that she should have checked the platform that overlooked Striker Eureka, since if Chuck was going to gaze out at any Jaeger, it would be Striker, but if he was avoiding someone, or everyone, Striker would be the first place that anyone would look for him.

The roof. Assuming that, like her, he didn't tell anybody about his favourite escape, the roof seemed like the most likely option. She climbed the stairs, realising just when she was about to open the door that she didn't have a jacket. She glanced behind her, wondering whether or not it was worth going back to get one.

Deciding against it, she pulled open the door that led to the roof and stepped outside into icy cold air. _Fuck, _she thought. She should have gone back for a jacket.

Chuck was there. He was sat on the edge of the roof, his legs dangling over the edge. He'd had the good sense to bring a jacket, Jazmine saw. She wondered how long he'd been sat there.

"Chuck?"

He turned slowly. His expression didn't as much as flicker when his gaze landed on her, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "What do you want?" He said after a long moment.

"To talk to you."

"About what?" He turned away from her so that he was, again, looking out at the sea.

"I feel like you've been avoiding me." She made her way over to where he was sat. It didn't look at all comfortable, but this wasn't a conversation she was going to have stood over him. It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have out there at all, but she had the distinct feeling that if she asked him to come inside, he'd refuse.

"That's awfully big-headed of you," Chuck replied as Jazmine sat down next to him. "What makes you think that I'd care enough about anything that you do, to go to the trouble of avoiding you?"

"Well," Jazmine shrugged. "I haven't seen you properly in over a week. I don't think anyone has seen you properly in over a week, so if you aren't avoiding me then you're avoiding someone."

"Why do you care?"

"Well, I mean, I don't. I just…" She trailed off when Chuck turned to look at her. "No, you know what? I do care. If you're avoiding me, Chuck, then I care."

"What about Jin?"

"What about him?"

"You're screwing him now, aren't you?"

"I most certainly am _not!_" Chuck certainly had a way of making her go from 0 to furious in two seconds flat. "Where the fuck have you got that from?"

"The two of you seem very cosy of late."

"_What?_" She liked Jin. She liked him a lot. He was friendly, funny and didn't seem to judge her on her past failures, unlike someone she _could _mention. Of _course _Chuck would jump to the conclusion that she was sleeping with Jin, he had no common sense whatsoever! He spent so much time about robots that he frequently forgot how human relationships actually worked. She wondered whether she wouldn't be better off sleeping with Jin.

"He fancies you," Chuck said through gritted teeth.

"He does not."

"He does," Chuck scoffed.

"Ok," Jazmine snapped, losing her temper. "What concern is it of yours if Jin fancies me or not? Which he doesn't, by the way. Why do you even care?" She'd sought him out because she'd been worried about his very uncharacteristic behaviour, how had they ended up arguing about Jin Wei?

"Yes he does! Jesus Christ, are you blind? Why is it so hard for you to see what is _right in front of you?_" He pushed himself up so that he was standing over her. "You're not stupid, Jazmine, I know you're not, yet I've never seen anyone so fucking oblivious!"

Jazmine mirrored his actions and pushed herself up. She was aware that it was damn cold, but she didn't care. It was taking all of her willpower not to punch Chuck in his ridiculously good looking face. Again. "God, what is your problem? I can't keep up with your fucking mood swings!"

"My mood swings? _My _mood swings?" Chuck looked outraged. "Are you kidding me?" He looked good when he was angry. Which only made Jazmine ten times angrier. "What about your mood swings? One minute you're punching me in the face, the next you're kissing me! Literally throwing yourself at me!"

Silence. Cold, hard silence.

"_I kissed you?" _He was lying. He had to be lying. She'd remember kissing him, surely? "When?" Chuck ducked his head. He looked like he was thoroughly regretting what he'd just said. He shook his head and made to turn away from her but Jazmine grabbed his arm. "When did this happen?"

"The night you found out about your brother," Chuck muttered reluctantly.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you were drunk!" Chuck threw his hands up in exasperation. "You were drunk and it didn't mean anything! You were upset and I was there, end of."

Jazmine couldn't find a response. She'd kissed Chuck. She'd _kissed _him. As if things weren't confusing enough. Chuck! She'd kissed Chuck! Clearly her intoxicated alter-ego had no boundaries.

"You know what?" Chuck said when Jazmine didn't respond. She dragged her gaze away from the spot just past his left shoulder and looked at him, numb with shock. "Forget I said anything. Pretend it never happened, that's what I'm going to do." He looked at her for a brief second with an expression she couldn't quite decipher, before turning on his heel and leaving her up there alone. She thought about calling after him, but found herself unable to actually make a sound.

Yeah, she'd definitely be better off sleeping with Jin.

* * *

"Way to screw things up, Chuck," he muttered to himself. "Nice job." He didn't think their conversation could have gone worse if he'd _intentionally _wanted to fuck things up. Letting a Kaiju stamp on him would have been less painful than that conversation. Her face when he'd let slip that she'd kissed him had been…interesting. The moment the words had left his mouth, he'd regretted them. He shouldn't have said it, not then at least. He hadn't been able to help himself, he'd been going for the shock factor, to hurt her because he was angry and when Chuck was angry he lashed out. Judging by the look on his face, he'd certainly achieved the effect he'd been hoping for when the words had left his mouth. "Fuck." He ran a hand through his hair. "_Fuck." _

He jumped when someone began knocking on his door. Well, knocking didn't seem to be the right word. More like, pounding furiously. He got up from his bed and made his way warily over to the door. Whoever it was on the other side (and he had a pretty good idea who) was not happy. He pulled the door open and, before he had time to open his mouth to ask her what she wanted, Jazmine had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into their second kiss. Well, what Jazmine would remember as their first.

She wasn't drunk. She was completely sober and she was _kissing _him. Her hands were in his hair, his arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was kissing him. Very enthusiastically. And he was reciprocating more than happily. If he'd been confused about his feelings before, they were crystal clear now. He _wanted _her. He couldn't imagine how he'd ever wanted anyone else.

Much too soon for Chuck's liking, Jazmine was pulling away. Her lips were swollen, her breathing heavy and her hair tousled where his hands had been. She made to turn away, but not before Chuck caught the beginnings of a smile. He wasn't ready to let her walk away from him, not just yet. He grabbed her hand just as she took her first steps away from him, and pulled her back around. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.


	18. Chapter 18

Okay, firstly I'm now changing to rating of this story to M for reasons that will become obvious if you read on. Viewer discretion advised! Also, I'm _really _bad at writing smut, so yeah, please don't hate me if it's horrendous! X

* * *

Jazmine wasted no time in making the most of the situation. She was almost positive that this was a horrendously bad idea and that they'd both regret it in the morning, but she wanted it, and judging by the way Chuck had her backed up against his door, his hands on either side of her waist as he slowly slid her top up, he wanted it too.

Jazmine turned the both of them so that Chuck was backed up against the door and she was the one in control. She bit down on his bottom lip, just enough to sting, and he tore her top clean in half. The remains of it landed on the floor, joined by Chuck's shirt only moments later after he pulled it off over his head and discarded it. Jazmine went straight for his belt buckle, hastily undoing it, which turned out to be harder than it looked when you were also forcefully kissing someone at the same time.

As soon as his jeans were undone, Jazmine sank to her knees in front of him. She glanced up at him; he was watching her breathlessly, his lips very slightly parted. When she took him in her mouth, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the door. Her name fell from his lips and his right hand was clenched in her hair. Judging by the look on his face, the expression of pure ecstasy, Chuck was very much enjoying himself. So was Jazmine. She liked the way that Chuck's body responded to hers and the way that her name sounded on his tongue.

She took him right up to the edge, and then backed off just as he was about to go over. Chuck growled in frustration and he raked the hand that wasn't in her hair through his own. She didn't give him the chance to ask what the hell she was doing, she went again, taking him in her mouth and taking him right to the edge, almost to the tipping point, and then pulling back just before he fell. She looked up at him with the merest hint of a self-satisfied smirk and saw that Chuck was breathing heavily, his jaw clenched. She stood up and Chuck placed a hand on either side of her face and kissed her hard. She kissed him back just as forcefully and Chuck's hands moved from her face and he wrapped them around her waist. He moved them up her back until his fingers brushed against her bra clasp. He undid it with expert ease and Jazmine momentarily pulled away so that she could push the straps down her arms and let it fall to floor. Chuck took the brief pause as an opportunity to remove what little clothing he had left. Jazmine followed suit before pushing Chuck down onto his bed. She positioned herself above him, straddling him, and leaned down to ever so gently brush her lips against his. He tried to capture her lips in an actual kiss but she pulled away and, before he could complain, lowered herself down onto his very generous length. He clenched and unclenched his jaw in an attempt to stop himself from moaning and Jazmine fought back a smile. Chuck Hansen was completely and utterly at her mercy, and boy was she going to have fun.

She started to move slowly, almost painfully so. She rocked her hips back and forth, thoroughly enjoying both the expression of pure bliss etched across Chuck's face, and the way he felt inside of her.

Chuck placed his hands on Jazmine's ribs. She had a small tattoo beneath her left breast. _02.29.2020. _He rubbed his thumb over it before sliding his hands down her sides, bringing them to rest on her hips. He gripped them tightly enough to leave bruises, which he was sure she'd punch him for later, but she didn't seem to mind at the moment. She was rocking her hips back and forth. She'd started off slowly but was gradually moving faster, having established a steady rhythm. She pushed a hand through her hair, moving it out of her face, before taking both of her hands and placing them over Chuck's, still on her hips. She threaded her fingers through his before pushing them back and pinning them behind Chuck's head. He had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop himself from moaning out loud, which was proving difficult. The sheer amount of pleasure that was radiating from where he was connected with Jazmine was hard to contain. It was crashing over him, wave after wave, and building up to the inevitable and highly anticipated release.

Chuck pushed himself up into a sitting position and Jazmine hooked her legs around his waist. She wound her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his. They began to move together, Chuck meeting every hip-roll of Jazmine's with a thrust of his own. Jazmine, who up until now had done a very good job of keeping herself quiet, began to moan. She was quiet at first, sighing against his lips, until a particularly vigorous thrust on Chuck's part caused her to cry out his name, her hands clutching at his shoulders. It was the first time he'd ever felt an ever-so-gratifying twinge in the pit of his stomach upon hearing his name.

Taking the lead, Chuck pushed Jazmine down so that he was positioned on top of her. She wound her legs around his waist, pulling him in deeper. Chuck groaned against Jazmine's lips, his forehead pressed against hers as he began to move inside her. He had planned on following her example and starting off slow, excruciatingly slow. He wanted her to plead, to _beg. _He wanted to hear the frustration in her voice, to feel it in her body as she writhed beneath him, but he'd overestimated his own self-control. He trapped her lips in a bruising kiss, one hand clutching a fist-full of her hair, the other planted on the bed for stability. He kissed along her jawbone and down her neck, all the while thrusting into her so hard that it was bordering on aggression. His face was buried in the crook of her neck and he bit down on the skin there. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough that it would leave a mark come the next morning. Jazmine retaliated by scraping her fingernails across his shoulder blades in a move that elicited a groan of pleasurable pain from Chuck's lips. He placed both of his hands on the bed, either side of Jazmine's head, and went in for the final act. Neither of them were completely aware of their actions, acting purely on animalistic instinct.

Jazmine came first. Her legs tightened around Chuck's waist and she arched her back as she cried out. This triggered his own release, sent him over the edge in an explosion of pure, unadulterated pleasure. He felt Jazmine relax beneath him just as he stilled. He took a moment or two to catch his breath, and she hers, before kissing lazily up her neck, across her jawbone and finally her lips. She kissed him back gently, pressing a hand against his cheek and grazing his cheekbone with her thumb. He cupped her face and gently pressed his lips to her forehead before moving to the side and collapsing next to her.


	19. Chapter 19

Jazmine slowly opened her eyes. In the minute or so it took for them to become accustomed to the darkness, memories from the night before came rushing back to her in their dozens. They were good memories, incredibly good. Her on her knees in front of Chuck, his hand clenched in her hair. Chuck beneath her, gripping her hips and pushing his upwards so that he could go deeper. Chuck's hand in her hair as he grazed her neck with his teeth. _Fuck,_ she cursed herself inwardly. _What the fuck have I done? _She looked over to her right. Chuck was still asleep, thank god. He was lay flat on his back, one hand behind his head, the other resting on his stomach. The sheets were pulled up just above his hips. A shame, really, to cover up was she knew was damn fine architecture.

Jazmine wondered how Chuck was going to react when he woke up to find himself alone. Would he be hurt? Surely not. Surely he was as keen to avoid the whole Awkward Morning After thing as she was? Just because they'd slept together didn't mean that they were in love and they were going to wake up in each other's arms, kissing and cuddling and thanking the lord that they had each other. That wasn't her thing. Being a girlfriend wasn't her thing, and she was willing to bet that Chuck felt the exact same way.

Jazmine eased herself up and then very gently pushed herself up off the bed. Chuck stirred and she froze, but he only turned over so that he was lay on his stomach. She let out a sigh of relief and continued on in pursuit of her clothes. She found her jeans and her bra, no problem, but her panties had gone MIA. She found her top, torn in two. She remembered finding it indescribably hot when Chuck had torn it off her body with his bare hands, she hadn't thought about what she might do in the morning. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed in exasperation. She couldn't very well walk through the Shatterdome without a top on.

Chuck's shirt lay beside her ruined one, intact. Could she…? No, she couldn't take his shirt. Could she? No. Definitely not.

She was going to take his shirt. She snatched it up from the floor and pulled it over her head. It was way too big for her, coming down to her mid-thighs, but it didn't matter. It served its purpose well in covering her up, and she'd only be wearing it the once, so whether or not it fit her perfectly was hardly a pressing issue.

Jazmine pulled on her boots before treading lightly over to the door and easing it open. Light from the hallway spilled into the room and she swore under her breath. Jesus, would it hurt them to turn the lights off once in a while so that people like her could slip away from one-night stands unnoticed?

She hurried out, pulling the door shut behind her as gently as she could. Once she was out, she let out a breath that she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. She felt guilty for sneaking out on Chuck, but at the same time she was _so _fucking relieved that she'd been able to get out without waking him up. However awkward their next encounter would be, it would never be as awkward as waking up, naked, in bed together would have been.

It was only now that she'd overcome the obstacle of sneaking out on Chuck that she realised how much her entire body ached. It was a good ache, though. She liked it. She tried to suppress the smirk that was fighting its way to her lips, and failed miserably.

"Hey!" A voice pulled her to a stop. She was half expecting Chuck, but Chuck was not an American female. She turned around to find Hannah at the other end of the hallway. "What are you doing up?"

Jazmine shrugged. She couldn't quite bring herself to tell her the truth, not wanting to see the smug smirk that Hannah would employ if she found out where exactly Jazmine had been and who she'd been doing. "Couldn't sleep," she lied.

As Hannah drew closer, Jazmine could see her narrowing her eyes, scrutinising her. She suddenly felt very self-conscious and had the urge to run away. "What is _that?"_

Jazmine stared at her. "What's what?"

"_That!_" She pointed to Jazmine's neck. "Your neck is covered in bruises!"

_Shit. _She hadn't thought about that. She hadn't realised that Chuck had bitten down hard enough to leave marks. Instinctively her hand flew up to her neck in an attempt to hide them from Hannah's view, but it was too late, she'd already seen them. "I—"

"Hang on," Hannah was stood right in front of her now. "They're not bruises. Are they-? They're love bites!" Hannah started laughing. Really laughing. "Couldn't sleep, my ass! You've been hooking up with someone, haven't you? I recognise the Walk of Shame when I see it."

"No!" Jazmine protested defiantly.

"Jesus Christ, Jaz. If that's the state of your neck, I dread to think what the rest of you looks like."

She blushed furiously, because Hannah was right. She rubbed her neck, her face a brilliant shade of pink.

"Fucking hell, this is brilliant. Who was it?" Hannah was still giggling to herself, more at Jazmine's reaction than anything.

"No one! I haven't been hooking up with anyone!" She wasn't sure why she was even bothering to deny it, not when the evidence was so blindingly obvious.

"Is that his shirt?"

"This?" Jazmine looked down at Chuck's shirt. It was ridiculously big on her, and so obviously not hers, but that didn't stop her from pretending otherwise. "No, this is mine." She turned away from Hannah who was grinning from ear to ear. It was true that it had been quite a while since Jazmine had gotten any action, a couple of months or so, but that didn't mean Hannah had to make such a song and dance about it! It wasn't _that _big a deal!

"Hey, Jaz?" Jazmine turned back around. Hannah was stood, with her arms folded, struggling to keep a straight face. "Since when did you own a t-shirt with the words _Striker Eureka _printed on the back?" She raised an eyebrow. Oh, she knew.

Jazmine opened her mouth a couple of times, intending to fabricate some sort of explanation, but none came. There was no denying it now, for where else would she have gotten the shirt? She wondered, now, if wouldn't have been better in just her bra. "I had sex with Chuck," she said finally, all attempts at coming up with an excuse gone, throwing her hands up in surrender. There was no point in denying it now, not when it was so painfully obvious.

"It's about time."


	20. Chapter 20

As soon as Jazmine reached her room, she pulled Chuck's shirt off and threw it down on her bed. The words _Striker Eureka _seemed to glow like a beacon, intent on alerting everyone in the vicinity that she, Jazmine Becket, had spent the night riding Chuck Hansen like her life had depended on it, and then some.

And now she wanted to punch herself in the face for it.

It wasn't that she didn't like Chuck. She did, there was no denying that now. It was just…where did they go now? Would they return to their previous relationship in which they wound up each other mercilessly? Would they start sleeping together on a regular basis? Would they become a _couple? _No. They definitely wouldn't become a couple. Jazmine didn't consider herself 'girlfriend material'. She didn't _want _to be. The whole relationship thing was alien to her, and she had no desire to change that, not with the apocalypse looming, not when death was spreading like wildfire, and whilst she wasn't privy to Chuck's feelings on the matter, she had the distinct impression that relationships weren't exactly his thing either. She'd never known him to ever have a girlfriend, serious or otherwise. He had plenty of admirers and one night stands and flings, but never anything that could be considered a relationship. Except perhaps Natalya. She wondered what was going on with Chuck and Natalya, given the new-found nature of _their _relationship. Was he still sleeping with her? Jazmine found (grudgingly) that she deplored the idea.

* * *

"So, was he good?"

Jazmine lifted her dumbbell above her head and held it there for a moment whilst she shot Hannah a glare. "Who?" She replied, feigning blissful ignorance as she brought it back down. She'd successfully avoided the subject for almost a week now, but Hannah was ruthlessly pursuing the subject.

"I'll take that as a yes," Hannah sat, smirking, cross-legged on the floor. Jazmine was lifting weights and determinedly avoiding every question that Hannah shot at her. She'd admitted that the two of them had slept together, and that's as far as she was willing to go.

"You can take that as whatever you want, I'm not saying anything."

"Oh, come on!" Hannah protested. "What's the point in having sex if you're not going to tell me every single detail afterwards?"

"I know, right? It's almost as if I _didn't _have sex with him for your entertainment."

"You are _such _a spoilsport."

"And you're nosey."

"Since when did you become so…cagey?"

"I'm not being cagey! I just…" Jazmine set the dumbbell down and looked at Hannah. "I'm confused." She had to talk to Hannah about it, because if she couldn't talk to Hannah, then who could she talk to? Hannah was her best friend, her co-pilot. They were two halves of a whole, two halves of a Jaeger. Hannah had been inside her head more times than she remembered, and she hers. When Jazmine said that Hannah knew her inside out, she meant it literally. "I hated the guy, and he hated me. And then I didn't hate him, and it started to get complicated, and now I like him and apparently he likes me too, and then we had sex. Not just sex, I'm talking incredible and mind-blowing and just…wow! I mean seriously, wow!" Hannah was grinning at her friend, who was using her hands to emphasise her point. "But now what do I do? We've made things about a hundred times more complicated by sleeping together."

"Why don't you just talk to him?"

"_Talk to him? _Shut up, Hannah, I can't talk to him! What a stupid thing to say."

"You like him, don't you?"

"Yes!" She grimaced. "Ugh, god. Yes, I like him. I have a crush on Chuck Hansen. Jesus, I bet you never expected to hear me say that."

"Talk to him, Jazmine. Talk. To. Him."

"I can't talk to him." Jazmine was resolute, her arms folded and her expression hard.

"Why not?"

"I don't know what to say."

"You know, he probably feels the same way," Hannah offered with a sympathetic smile.

"Chuck? I can't imagine him ever not knowing what to say. He has a comeback for everything."

"There's a sex joke in there somewhere, but I don't think this is the right time to make it," a man's voice came from behind them. A man's voice with an Australian accent. Perfect timing.

"Chuck!" Hannah exclaimed, plastering a smile to her face. The two of them had shot up upon realising that they weren't alone, and Hannah was now edging towards him – and the door. Jazmine shook her head very slightly and widened her eyes at Hannah in what she hoped was a meaningful manner, hoping that Hannah would get the picture and not leave her alone with Chuck, but Hannah paid no notice. Either she wasn't receiving Jazmine's signals, or she was receiving them and ignoring them nonetheless. Jazmine suspected the latter. "What a coincidence!" Coincidence. Yeah, right. Jazmine could tell purely by the look on Hannah's face that a coincidence it was not. "I'll just," Hannah gestured towards the door before sidling out, leaving Chuck and Jazmine alone. She was going to kill Hannah.

Chuck was wearing a white tank top and grey sweatpants that were hanging low enough on his hips that she could see his hipbones. Jesus…

"You've been avoiding me." It wasn't a question. Jazmine dragged her gaze away from his damned hipbones to look him in the eyes. For the past six days, Jazmine had been riddled with confusion and frustration and all manner of emotions that she didn't want to acknowledge or deal with. Seeing Chuck for the first time since their last encounter had her emotions running high again, but when she thought about it, she realised they were all one in the same. How was she supposed to form any kind of reasonable thoughts when just the sight of him – fully clothed – had her imagining what would happen if she ripped his clothes off? And she wasn't just imagining it, either, she was seriously considering it.

"I haven't been avoiding you." Jazmine replied eventually, cursing herself inwardly at her own lack of discipline. _Pull yourself together! _She chastised herself.

"Yes, you have."

"I haven't!" Jazmine protested untruthfully. Of course she'd been avoiding him. Had he honestly expected any different?

"Is that why I haven't seen you in six days? You know, since you crept out of my room and all?"

"I didn't creep anywhere." Another lie.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Embarrassed about what?"

"That we slept together."

Although she knew perfectly well that they were alone, and that there was no one around to hear their conversation, that didn't stop her from glancing around the room, just to make sure. "Could you not say that so loudly? Please?" She wasn't embarrassed. She really wasn't. She just wasn't quite ready for people to know.

"Natalya was never embarrassed." Oh, he was playing that card, was he? She couldn't tell if he was intentionally trying to get a rise out of her or not; he stood with his arms folded and a neutral expression. Either way, it rattled her.

"Good for Natalya. Maybe you should go have sex with her."

"Maybe I will," Chuck shrugged.

"Good. You should."

"I will."

"Go for it."

They stared at each other for a few seconds. A few torturously long seconds. She wondered how agreeable Chuck would be to having sex right there in the gym. Or if he'd even be agreeable to having sex with her again, given her unceremonious exit from their last tryst.

At last, after what seemed like hours, Chuck broke the silence. He reached for her, his hand going for hers so that he could pull her forward. "I'm not gonna—"

"I know," Jazmine cut him off before closing the distance between them and crushing her lips to his. Her arms went around his neck and Chuck immediately placed both of his hands beneath her thighs and hoisted her up, securing her legs around his waist. She leaned in to kiss him again but he pulled back slightly.

"By the way, I know you stole my shirt."

"Because you tore mine in half!" Chuck glanced down at the top she was wearing and raised an eyebrow. She could literally see the idea forming in his mind. "And I won't think twice about stealing another one if you ruin this one."

"I can deal with that."


	21. Chapter 21

They weren't a couple. They were barely even friends. They were just two people who happened to sleep together from time to time. Or, you know, most nights. She never stayed. They never woke up together in the morning. Jazmine would wait until Chuck fell asleep before leaving. She didn't feel bad about it, because he did the same thing whenever they hooked up in her room. It worked for both of them. Sex, no strings attached. That's all it was, and it worked.

If nothing else, Jazmine had acquired a small pile of men's shirts that now hung up in her closet.

She didn't notice it for a while, not until one night when she pushed herself up and glanced over at Chuck's sleeping figure. The smile that came to her face was unbidden but welcome all the same. She reached over and gently brushed Chuck's hair back off of his forehead. He stirred a little and her smile turned into a grin. She let her fingers gently trail down from his temple, across his cheekbone, and then down towards his neck. He didn't cut a very intimidating figure when he was asleep. He looked so sweet and innocent that it was easy to forget that this was the same guy who had bagged nine kills to date in a Mark-5 Jaeger. Before she left, she glanced back at him. He was in the same position, except his left arm was now lay over the space that she had previously occupied, almost as if he was reaching for her. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. She hadn't noticed it until now, but she was happy. Happier than she could remember ever being. _Oh, Chuck Hansen, _she thought to herself as she pulled his door shut gently behind her, _what are you doing to me?_

* * *

For the most part, they kept their 'thing' to themselves. They didn't discuss it out in the open, didn't even acknowledge that they as much as spoke to each other about anything other than work. Well, that's how it worked in the beginning, anyway. As the weeks went on, Chuck's moves became bolder. He'd sit next to her at the table. He wouldn't talk to her, would barely look at her, and would engage himself in a conversation with whomever sat across from him. She would return the favour, never sparing him as much as a sideways glance, all the while his hand would be making its way slowly up the inside of her thigh. Or he'd walk past her and 'accidently' brush against her, or sweep his hand against the small of her back. They were little things, minor moves in whatever game it was they were playing, but that didn't mean that Jazmine enjoyed it any less.

"What gives?" Hannah burst out one day after Chuck had left the table. Hannah had watched him stride out of the mess hall with a frown before rounding on Jazmine.

"What are you talking about?"

"What's your deal with Chuck? I just watched the two of you sit next to each other for a whole _hour _and you didn't even look at each other."

"So?"

"'_So?' _I thought you liked him? I thought you were _sleeping _with him? Or is that over?"

"It's just sex, Han." That's what Jazmine liked to tell herself, anyway. It's just sex, no strings attached, no emotional baggage. She'd repeat the words over and over and over in her head in an attempt to convince herself that they were true, because she couldn't consider the alternative, not even for a second. She didn't _want _to consider the alternative. She didn't want to develop actual romantic feelings for Chuck. Jazmine was well aware that she would be unable to maintain a healthy relationship, not with the amount of pent up anger that she'd been harbouring for the past five years, maybe even longer. She already had a tendency of projecting said anger onto those around her. If she let herself get closer to Chuck than she already was, she'd hurt them both.

And all of that was without mentioning the fact that she was still at a loss to understand how _Chuck _of all people had become _that _person in her life. Talk about irony.

* * *

Jazmine Becket, Herc realised, was quickly becoming quite a key player in his son's life. The two of them weren't being as discreet about their affair as they thought; Herc had heard the whispers of those who had seen Chuck sneaking out of Jazmine's room at three in the morning, or vice versa, and their sudden aversion to being seen in public together was as painfully obvious as it was amusing. All of that aside, Herc knew his son. He knew his son and he certainly knew when his son was acting out of character.

He'd been surprised at first. The raw animosity between Chuck and Jazmine was no secret. The pair of them had spent every minute since the moment they met throwing insults at each other. The very second that Chuck had laid eyes on Jazmine, he'd taken an instant dislike to her, and Herc very much believed that the feeling had been mutual.

* * *

"_What do you think?" Herc asked his son. At sixteen years old, Chuck was generally unimpressed by just about everything. Almost as if to confirm this, Chuck shrugged as he stared around the room in disinterest. Herc rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. There was no point. Chuck was every inch the sullen teenager, every parent's worst nightmare. He hadn't wanted to bring Chuck in the first place, but Chuck had insisted, given that the Anchorage Shatterdome was where the increasingly famous Becket brothers were stationed. Ever since they'd taken down Yamarashi in 2017, Chuck had idolised them. Of course, that was before their disastrous encounter with Knifehead. Chuck hadn't said anything, but Herc had seen his poster of Gipsy Danger torn up and stuffed unceremoniously in the trash can. _

_With one brother dead and the other AWOL, Herc had imagined that Chuck would have expressed his desire to stay behind in Sydney, but he hadn't said a word._

"_Who's that?" Herc abandoned his visual search for Stacker and glanced at Chuck (who, despite being only sixteen, was only an inch or so smaller than Herc, if that). He followed his gaze and found that the subject of Chuck's scrutiny was a blonde-haired teenage girl. She stood slightly apart from the crowd, looking as though she wasn't quite sure whether or not she was meant to be there. She looked familiar, but Herc couldn't quite place his finger on how. _

_Almost as if she sensed them staring, the blonde met their gaze with blazing blue eyes. Her expression was hard, cold even, and her jaw clenched like she was gritting her teeth. It took him a second to place where he'd seen that expression before, but once he had it, he was certain._

"_Jazmine Becket." Herc replied quietly. He'd ridden with her brothers, Yancy and Raleigh, just a year ago in Manila. A three-Jaeger team drop along with Horizon Brave. Herc wondered what she still doing there, why she hadn't opted to leave with her brother. _

"_Becket?" Chuck echoed, looking at Herc with an expression other than disinterest for the first time in what seemed like years. He wasn't sure if resentment was any better, though. "As in…?"_

_Herc nodded._

"_I didn't know they had a sister." And that was it. Herc had been expecting derogatory comments about her and her brothers, at least, but Chuck has lost interest in the youngest Becket just as quickly as he'd found it. _

_Or, so Herc had thought. His brief conversation with Stacker Pentecost not half an hour later was interrupted by the unmistakable sounds of a commotion. Herc could hear raised voices. One of the raised voices he recognised all too well, and his heart sank a little. God dammit, Chuck. _

_Herc followed Stacker back into the mess hall. There was a circle of people, ranging from excited to nervous, surrounding Chuck and whomever he'd seen fit to start a fight with. The circle parted as Herc and Stacker approached to reveal Chuck, looking rather pleased with himself, and a very angry Jazmine Becket. She was breathing heavily and glaring at Chuck with such animosity that he was surprised that Chuck wasn't shrinking under the sheer intensity of her gaze. _

_Herc was very well aware of the fact that whatever had gone down between the two of them, was almost certainly to have been initiated by his son, and so took it upon himself to remove the cocky bastard from the equation. Just in time as well, he reckoned, because Jazmine looked ready to pound Chuck to a pulp. Herc couldn't quite bring himself to think that Chuck didn't deserve it._

"_What did you say to her?" He hissed as he pulled Chuck away roughly by the arm. _

"_I didn't say anything that wasn't the truth," Chuck replied calmly, pulling his arm out of his father's grasp. _

_Herc groaned. He could only imagine the shit that Chuck had come out with. Kid didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He had no idea where he'd got it from, because it hadn't come from him and it certainly hadn't come from his mother. It would earn him a well-deserved punch in the face one day. _


	22. Chapter 22

Okay, I am aware that Echo Saber and Vulcan Specter were in on this mission too, and that Chuck and Herc were still stationed in Sydney when Mutavore attacked, but for the purposes of the story I brought Chuck and Herc to Hong Kong earlier and established that there were only four Jaegers left, so that is why Echo Saber and Vulcan Specter didn't make an appearance, just in case anyone was wondering :)

* * *

Jazmine was lay on her stomach, the bed sheets pulled up to the small of her back, leaving her top half largely uncovered. Chuck lay on his back with his hands resting behind his head. He had his eyes closed but Jazmine was almost certain that he was awake. The sheets came to rest just below his hips, meaning that Jazmine had an incredibly good view. The 'v' of his hip bones were enough to make Jazmine consider locking herself in the room with Chuck and throwing away the key. Hey, a girl could dream, right?

It was the middle of the day and both of them had a whole list of things they could have been doing. _Should _have been doing. Chuck had said something about getting some maintenance done on Striker's Conn-Pod. Jazmine had been intending on heading down to LOCCENT after Tendo had requested her help with something.

Post-sex Chuck was quite a sight to behold. His red hair was tousled, like someone had been running their hands through it. Which Jazmine had been.

"You're staring," Chuck said without opening his eyes. It wasn't a question.

"I'm not staring!" Jazmine protested. "I'm observing."

"Observing what?" He opened his eyes and pushed himself up so that his back was against the headboard.

"You." Jazmine said simply.

"Why?"

"I don't know if you've noticed," Jazmine smirked, because of course he'd noticed. Chuck Hansen was very well aware of the fact that he was an incredible example of the phrase 'eye candy', "but you're quite something to look at."

To Jazmine's complete and utter surprise, instead of the self-satisfied 'I know,' she was expecting, Chuck ducked his head with an embarrassed smile. He stared down fixatedly at his hands which were playing aimlessly with the sheets.

"Are you _blushing?_" Jazmine exclaimed in disbelief.

"No!" Chuck protested without looking up.

"You're blushing!"

"I'm not!" He pulled a pillow from beneath himself and threw it at her. And missed.

"Oh my god, you _are," _Jazmine began to laugh. It was all kinds of endearing, watching Chuck playing with his hands, determinedly avoiding her gaze as his cheeks turned pink. She pushed herself up and threw one leg over his so that she was straddling him. The sheet was still pulled up around Chuck's hips, providing a flimsy barrier between the two of them. He placed his hands on her hips and looked up at her, all traces of embarrassment gone from his face. Chuck gazed up at Jazmine intently and she leaned down to kiss him. She wound her arms around his neck and he returned her kiss attentively and they sank back into what would turn into another hour or two of blissful ignorance.

* * *

"What does this do?" Jazmine pointed to the screen in front of her. She was lounging in Tendo's chair, her legs thrown over the arm. Tendo was leaning on the back of the chair, pointing at seemingly random spots on the screen. Tendo had spent the past half an hour showing her around his beloved LOCCENT, showing her how to play with his toys.

"When the Breach opens, it emits an intense kind of radiation, which in turn creates heat. It also bleeds plasma through from wherever the hell it is these bastards are coming from. It turns the seafloor into a freaking party, seriously, you should see it."

"You can see it?"

"Sure. It's a hell of a thing to see, believe me. I don't usually watch. I find that I get a better sense of the enemy from the nonvisual instruments."

"How long do you think it's going to be?" Jazmine could tell by the look on Tendo's face that he knew to what she was referring.

"What are we on now? One month, five days? Could be any moment."

Jazmine nodded. Waiting for the next incursion made her uncomfortable. The longer it was, the more tensions ran high. It sometimes felt like the Kaiju were waiting it out just to play on their emotions. To make them nervous and anxious just for the fun of it. Or perhaps they were trying to lure them into a false sense of security, that would make more sense, but there was no way that they'd be lured so easily.

"You want a coffee?" Tendo's voice brought her out of her musings.

"Sure," she smiled up at him.

"I'll be right back," he clapped her on the shoulder before retreating. Jazmine watched him go before turning back to the screen in front of her. It was, for the most part, blank. No activity, no flashing lights, no nothing. She could have worked there, she was sure. Computers weren't her strong point, admittedly, but apparently neither was piloting gargantuan robots and she'd still pursued that. Besides, she could learn.

"_Movement in the Breach," _the simulated voice of the Jaeger AI rang throughout the room and Jazmine's heart lurched as she realised what was happening. "_Movement in the Breach." _The screen was coming to life. Lights were flashing, the AI seemed to be screaming at her that there was movement in the Breach, like she needed reminding. A machine to her right, that she'd already forgotten the purpose of, was printing out what looked like results from a sound graph or something of that sort, she wasn't sure.

"Tendo!" She rose from the chair, considering running in the direction that he'd gone off in, but she was reluctant to leave the scene of the crime, as it were, as if the Kaiju might start wreaking havoc in her absence. Which it would, but there wasn't a lot that she could do about it. "_TENDO!"_

"What?" Tendo hurried back into view, clutching two mugs of coffee. His quizzical expression was wiped blank when he realised what was going on. Instead of panicking, like Jazmine had, he set the mugs down on the desk and slid into his chair. He started punching keys, shouting commands to members of the technical team, who followed his orders without question. "Marshall," Tendo brought up the video link. "Movement in the Breach, sir."

"What category?"

"Category IV, sir. Looks like it's headed for Sydney."

"Sound the alarm, Mr. Choi."

* * *

The Hansens were suited up and deployed before Jazmine had a chance to see Chuck. She wasn't entirely sure what she would have said. 'Be careful?' Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha were out there, too. It was their job to cover the Miracle Mile whilst Striker Eureka took the bastard down. Of course, these things never went to plan, but it was nice to dream.

Somehow, the Category IV, named Mutavore, slipped past Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha. They were adapting, Jazmine noted. They seemed to be learning from their past mistakes, though she wasn't sure how that was possible. It was almost as if every Kaiju that had made land on earth, and had subsequently been put down by the Jaegers, was transmitting the information back to…well, whatever was on the other side of the Breach. But that wasn't possible, was it? Jazmine shook her head, a decade ago she would have said that aliens were impossible, but here they were.

"You got a visual, LOCCENT?" Chuck's voice came through the console and Jazmine opened her mouth to reply, before stopping herself. It wasn't her place to reply, this wasn't her job.

Tendo grabbed the microphone. "On your right, 3 o'clock."

"Gotcha."

Jazmine felt useless. She was just _standing _there, but what else could she do? She wanted to be out there, taking down Mutavore, but that wasn't an option. She didn't know how anything worked in LOCCENT, and would surely only mess things up if she tried, but she needed to be doing something.

Striker performed beautifully, as Jazmine knew she would. Chuck could be a complete and utter dick a lot of the time, but there was no denying that he truly was an exceptional pilot. Striker Eureka, under the Hansen's control, pummeled Mutavore, and they did it seamlessly. Mutavore fought valiantly, but he was no match for Striker. Or, so Jazmine thought. Striker drew back her left arm to deliver what Jazmine was sure would be the winning punch when Mutavore launched himself at her and the two of them fell backwards into an office building. The city of Sydney was going to be a little worse for wear after Striker and Mutavore had gone a few rounds, Jazmine thought with a grimace as she watched the building crumple beneath the weight of Striker and Mutavore combined.

"Striker?" Tendo was saying into the microphone. "Striker? Can you hear me?" Jazmine was waiting for Chuck's scathing reply ("Keep your hair on, Elvis, that was nothing but a scratch.") but it didn't come. The silence was deafening, but Jazmine refused to even consider the worst-case scenario.

"Why aren't they answering? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Tendo was frowning at the monitor. "I'm still getting a signature from both of them."

Jazmine grabbed the microphone, dismissing her earlier thoughts about how it wasn't her place. "Striker?" She wasn't sure what use she was, if Tendo couldn't get through to them then why would she? "Striker, talk to me." It took her a few moments to realise that she was scared. Not of Mutavore or the devastation that he had, and would cause, but by the notion that Chuck was…

No. He wasn't. She refused to even think it. "Hansen, if you don't answer me I swear to god I'm going to slap you into next week."

There was a long moment of tense silence before the intercom crackled back to life.

"Hey there, Baby Becket," Chuck's voice came through and Jazmine physically sagged with relief. She was so relieved that she forgot to be angry at him for using that accursed nickname. "Sorry about that, comms were down for a minute there. Were you worried?"

"Not at all," Jazmine said with a smile. "Now pull yourself together and finish this, will you?"

"You giving me orders now?"

"You bet I am."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jazmine turned to find Tendo watching her with a knowing smile. She wiped the stupid grin from her face and tried to arrange her features into a more neutral expression. "What?" She asked innocently.

"Let me guess, just friends?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Tendo was shaking his head in amusement and Jazmine pretended not to notice. They turned back to the monitor in unison. The feed from the choppers showed them Striker pushing out her chest and firing her missiles. Whoever had come up with that design was almost certainly a man.

The fight didn't last long after that. Mutavore fell, overcome by Striker's sheer power, and as soon as his signature faded from Tendo's computer display, Jazmine could breathe again.


	23. Chapter 23

"They decommissioned the Jaeger programme because of mediocre pilots, it's that simple," Chuck Hansen told the reporter. Raleigh bit back the insults that he longed to scream at the TV set, that he longed to scream at this overconfident moron. His words felt like personal jibes, like sly digs at him and his brother. That wasn't the case, of course. It couldn't be. Raleigh had never met this kid, only ever seen him on the TV. "That's Striker Eureka's tenth kill to date. A new record." Double what his kill count with Gipsy had been. Shaking his head, Raleigh turned away from the TV and pushed his way through the crowd. It took him a moment to realise the slight commotion coming from outside. It looked to Raleigh like a chopper was making land. He didn't have to wait long to find out who was in the chopper, and who they were here for. Not a minute passed before Marshall Pentecost was stepping out onto the asphalt. Raleigh's heart sank; this was no coincidence. The Marshall had come for him.

* * *

"Jazmine!" Hannah's voice rang through the hallway, but Jazmine didn't stop. Chuck and Herc had returned from Sydney, so she'd been told. She had to find Chuck, she had to tell him something. "Jaz!"

"Not now, Hannah!" Jazmine called back without turning around.

"But this is important, Jaz! There's something you really need to know!"

"I said, not now!"

"But, Jazmine—"

"_NOT NOW!" _She yelled, losing her patience. She couldn't imagine what could be so important that Hannah was shouting down the hallway, trying to get her attention. Knowing Hannah, it was the news that she'd finally managed to bed that guy from munitions. He was tall, dark with the bluest eyes Hannah had ever seen, apparently. She liked to stare attractively (which was really not very attractive at all) at him whenever he sat close enough to them in the mess hall.

"_RALEIGH'S HERE!" _Hannah shouted back in frustration.

"What?" Jazmine turned around slowly to face Hannah, who was just watching up to her.

"Raleigh's here," Hannah repeated, watching Jazmine worriedly. "I just found out. I didn't want you to, y'know, run into him or something."

"Raleigh's here?" Jazmine felt like someone had punched her in the stomach and then pulled out her insides just for the fun of it. "In the building?" She'd known perfectly well that this day was coming, but she hadn't expected it to be so soon. It would have also have been nice to have been giving a little warning. You know, just a heads up that they'd found him and would be bringing him in. "Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Where is he?"

* * *

"We're not an army anymore, Mr. Becket. We're the resistance." The Marshall punched a code into a keypad mounted on the wall. The doors slid open to reveal a very familiar sight, though Raleigh had to admit that he'd never thought that he'd ever come back to this. "Welcome to the Shatterdome."

Five hundred feet high at its highest. From the centre, seven tracks radiated out. Six of them led to Jaeger bays, the seventh a ramp that the Jaegers would take to the ocean doors. Scramble Alley, it was called. Raleigh could see that three of the six Jaeger bays were occupied. He recognised Crimson Typhoon by her third arm. It was hard enough to find two people who were Drift compatible, never mind three, but the Wei Tang triplets Drifted as well as anyone, it seemed. Cherno Alpha, it would have been difficult not to recognise that baby. Cherno Alpha was one of the first, a Mark-1. Raleigh had heard of the Kaidanovsky's, Cherno's pilots. They'd defended the Siberian wall for as long as he could remember. His eyes landed on a Jaeger that could only have been Striker Eureka. He recognised it from the brief footage he'd seen on the TV, not a day ago. She was magnificent, truly.

Back in the Shatterdome, Raleigh couldn't remember why he'd thought it a good idea to leave the first time around. This was where he belonged.

"Would you excuse me a moment?" The Marshall uttered before heading off in the direction of Striker. Raleigh stood somewhat awkwardly, unable to keep his gaze from wandering in every direction. He couldn't help the small smile that came to his lips; he was home.

"Hey, Raleigh!" A very familiar and very angry voice came from behind him. He turned, not daring to believe it, but unless his eyes were deceiving him, his sister was stood just inside the doors, underneath a clock that Raleigh assumed told how long it had been since the last Kaiju attack.

She was 21, the same age that Raleigh had been when he and Yancy had gone out on that last mission and Yancy…hadn't made it back. She was almost as tall as Raleigh, her hair the same dirty blonde, but a lot longer. Her eyes were hard and blazing, and her expression was such a Yancy expression that he almost smiled. A clenched jaw and a stony expression; Yancy had perfected that look years ago. The smile that he'd been considering faded once she started striding towards him. Raleigh had momentarily forgotten the unceremonious way in which he'd left his sister. He'd had her best interests at heart, but he didn't suppose that she saw it that way. He barely had time to throw his hands up in his own defence before she reached him, greeting him with a forceful shove to the chest, causing him to stagger back several steps. Jesus, she was strong.

"Jaz, I—"

"_FIVE YEARS, ASSHOLE! FIVE YEARS!" _She roared. He couldn't quite say that he blamed her.

"I'm sorry—" Raleigh began, only to be cut off by a hard slap.

"I thought you were dead!"

"I might as well have been," Raleigh attempted to explain. "The state I was in."

"Yeah, not good enough!"

"Yancy _died, _Jaz!" He was getting angry now. Whilst Jazmine's fury towards him was perfectly justified, if she'd just let him _explain…_

"Shit, really? Thanks for letting me know!"

"Hey," Chuck Hansen, who had approached them hesitantly, attempted to intervene. Raleigh wanted to slap him. He understood that the kid was trying to diffuse the situation, but anyone who knew Jazmine knew that intervention did more harm than good. Her rage needed to run its course, only then would she get it out of her system. However, Raleigh was willing to bet that her temper tantrums now were a hundred times more severe than they had been when she'd been throwing them when she was thirteen.

"_Leave her be," _Yancy had said once as they'd stood in the doorway, watching Jazmine tear apart her room. "_She needs this._" If only Yancy were here now. He'd have known what to do.

In perfect unison, Jazmine and Raleigh turned their heads to face him. "Stay out this!" They snapped before turning back to each other.

"Jazmine, look, you have every right to be angry with me. I'd be angry with me. I _was! _I just…when Yancy died, I couldn't…I mean, I felt like, well, I just…" Raleigh trailed off with a sigh. He knew how he felt, but putting it into words was easier said than done. "It was just better for you if I wasn't around," He sighed in resignation. "If you're gonna believe anything, believe that."

Jazmine was silent for a moment and Raleigh thought that he'd finally gotten through to her. That his explanation had finally hit home and she was all set to forgive him and welcome him back with open arms. That was, until, he realised that her silence wasn't her considering pulling him into a hug, but rather a result of his words making her _so _angry that she couldn't speak.

"_Better?" _She said the word like it was something disgusting that she'd found on the bottom of her shoe. _"BETTER?" _Her voice was gradually getting louder and people were starting to stare. Raleigh realised what was going to happen a split second too late. He didn't have time to take up a defensive stance before she launched herself at him. She seemed to be everywhere. She was punching him in the face, slapping him, pulling his hair, thumping him in the stomach. His moves, what very few he could pull, were purely defensive. He knew that if he wanted to, he could have very easily retaliated and the fight would have been a fair one, but he couldn't quite bring himself to.

Jazmine pulled back her fist and Raleigh braced himself for the blow, but it never came. Chuck Hansen had both of his arms wrapped around her and was pulling her away from her brother. She was struggling against him and he was whispering something in her ear, although this only seemed to rile her up more. She didn't seem to see the crowd of people that had gathered around to witness their reunion and were now watching their interaction with nervous excitement.

"Jaz," Raleigh tried to reach out to her again, desperately searching for the words that would extinguish her anger, though deep, deep down he knew that there were none, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying. "Jazmine, listen to me—"

"Listen to you? Listen to _you?" _Jazmine spat. She'd stopped struggling against Chuck's hold and was glaring at Raleigh with such contempt that he almost took a couple of steps back. "Are you fucking kidding me? I don't want to hear _anything _that you have to say! 'Yancy died' is not an excuse, Raleigh! You weren't the only one who lost him, he was my brother too!"

"Jazmine, we were still connected when he d—"

"_I DON'T CARE!" _She broke free of Chuck, who had loosened his grip a little in the few moments that she'd stopped struggling. Raleigh stiffened but Jazmine didn't seem inclined to attack him again. She took a couple of slow, deliberate steps towards him, her eyes fixed on his. "It should have been you," she said calmly, coldly, in stark contrast to the way she'd been spitting out her words only moments ago.

Raleigh swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise from his stomach. He felt like Jazmine had punched a hole through his stomach, which he was sure was her intention. The Jazmine that he'd left behind five years ago had been a whole different person. His sixteen year old sister had never thrown a punch in her life. Her anger issues now were tenfold what they had been, and he only had himself to blame.

"What?" He replied, although he knew perfectly well what she meant. He wasn't sure why he was making her say it, because he knew that the words that were about to leave her mouth would surely kill him.

"You should have died." Yep. Like a knife to his heart. The only thing worse that hearing his sister, his only living family and the only person left in the world that he loved, say those words, was knowing that he agreed. How many nights had he lain awake, knowing that it should have been his body torn from Gipsy Danger and tossed into the sea like a broken doll? It had been his idea to disobey the Marshall's commands and go wading into the ocean to save that boat, not Yancy's. It had been his disobedience that had gotten them into trouble, yet Yancy had paid the price. In what world was that fair? "Yancy would have never have left me." Also true. Yancy had been better than Raleigh at just about everything. It had nothing to do with being the eldest, it was just the way things were and Raleigh had accepted that fact a long, long time ago. Yancy had always been the better son, the better brother, the better fighter, and in the end, the better pilot. Raleigh knew with absolute certainty that Yancy would never have even considered leaving without Jazmine. Whether he needed to be alone or not, Yancy wouldn't have abandoned her. He would have put her first, which was what Raleigh had been doing (or, he'd thought so, anyway), except he'd clearly gone about it the wrong way.

"Do you mean that?"

"Absolutely." He felt sick. He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists in an attempt to keep his composure. Jazmine turned without another word and made off in the opposite direction, shrugging off Chuck's attempt to pull her back. He watched his sister's retreating back as the sickening realisation hit him, that in trying to protect her, he'd lost her, too.

* * *

Jazmine had anger issues. She'd always had anger issues, she knew that. They'd gotten worse in the past few years or so, for obvious reasons, but never had she felt anger like that. Seeing Raleigh had awakened not anger, but a rage so pure that it burned. She'd wanted to hurt him, physically but mostly emotionally. The look of sheer devastation on Raleigh's face when she'd uttered _those _words had filled her with a sick kind of satisfaction.

So why was it that now, in the aftermath, she felt so goddamn guilty? Why was she half-considering going back out there to find her brother and apologise profusely for her harsh words? She wouldn't, because she swallowing her pride wasn't something that she did well, but dammit, she wanted to.

She wanted to hug him and tell him how much she'd missed him. She wanted to tell him how much she needed him, her brother. Her _only _brother. With her mom dead, her dad gone and Yancy killed in action, Raleigh was all she had left. _That _was what had really gotten to her. That was the fact that had eaten away her at for the past five years, slowly turning her into a bitter, resentful, angry person. It was the fact that Raleigh was the only person she had left, and vice versa, and she'd needed him, and he'd still left. He hadn't told her that he was going, or even left a note, he'd just upped and left, leaving her with nothing and nobody.

There was a knock on the door, but Jazmine ignored it. She didn't care who it was, she didn't want to talk to anybody. What she wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry herself to sleep, but apparently that wasn't an option, as the person on the other side of the door wasn't giving up.

"C'mon, Jaz. Open the door, I know you're in there." Chuck. She couldn't ignore him, because she knew that he'd stand there all night if he had to. Or he'd break down the door, either one. Jazmine plastered what she hoped was a neutral expression to her face. She was determined that no one, especially Chuck, would see that Raleigh's return had rattled her in a way that even she couldn't have predicted. She didn't want him, or anyone, to see her upset. Upset was an emotion reserved for the weak, and she was _not _weak.

She pulled open the door to find Chuck leaning against the door frame. He straightened up when he saw her. "Hey, you ok?"

That was all it took for her resolve to shatter into a thousand shards of nothingness. She tried to smile, but the tears were already streaming down her face. Chuck didn't say anything, he didn't have to. He pulled her into his arms and she sobbed.


	24. Chapter 24

Raleigh looked at his reflection in the mirror, surveying his injuries. His left eye was starting to bruise and he had a nasty scratch above his eyebrow. His bottom lip was swollen and split. He didn't care, they would heal.

He felt a familiar emptiness in the pit of his stomach. The last time that he'd experienced that kind of awful hollowness was when Yancy had died. The way he'd felt back then had been horrendous, but this was worse, if that were possible. Yancy's death had been beyond Raleigh's control. He couldn't have prevented what had happened, but with Jazmine, he was very well aware that the fault lay with him. Jazmine was alive, but because of what he'd done, hated him with everything she had. For all intents and purposes, he was dead to her.

Perhaps it only felt worse to him because he'd had time to come to terms with what had happened to Yancy. It still hurt him to think about it, but he'd accepted it and attempted to move on. This ordeal with Jazmine was like a fresh wound. For a split second, the moment he'd heard her voice, he'd entertained the notion of being a brother again. Of having a family, no matter how small or fragmented it was. Of course, that hope had been dashed in the following moments when she'd launched a full-scale attack on him.

He had no one to blame but himself. Regardless of her physical assault on him, Jazmine was the only person he had left, he wasn't about to let that go.

* * *

Chuck was exhausted. Consoling someone who was…well, inconsolable, turned out to be more work than he could have anticipated. Watching someone you cared about, someone who was usually so put together, break down after standing tall for so long was unsettling to say the least. Jazmine didn't get upset, she didn't cry. Jazmine got angry and lashed out, that was what he was used to. She had cried for hours. No, sobbed. He'd held her and stroked her hair in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. It hurt him, seeing her like that. Despite everything he'd done to try and convince himself otherwise, he cared. If he could have, he'd have happily have taken her pain away and suffered through it himself, if only to see her smile.

Eventually, the sobs that had been racking through her body subsided. Her shallow breaths became slow and deep and Chuck realised that she'd fallen asleep. He gently withdrew his arm from around her and eased himself up off the bed. He pulled the covers up to her shoulders before leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. He slipped quietly out of her room, pulling the door shut gently behind him. He pushed a hand through his hair and sighed. Caring was a lot of hard work.

* * *

"Hey, Chuck!" Hannah caught him just outside of the mess hall. His hair was tousled, his face pale and drawn. He'd attempted to get some sleep after leaving Jazmine, but had only laid in bed for a couple of hours, waiting for sleep to take him, before giving up. He looked exhausted. "You ok?" She asked as she drew closer.

"Long night," Chuck muttered in way of explanation. "What's up?"

"Have you seen Jazmine today? I heard what happened with her and Raleigh. She's not too happy about him being back, huh?"

"'Not too happy'?" Chuck echoed, shooting Hannah a glance of disbelief. "She almost tore his head off. I'm surprised she didn't, actually."

"You and me both." Hannah sighed. "So have you seen her?"

"Jazmine? Not today, no. I figured she'd wanna be left alone."

"Who wanted to be left alone?" Came a voice from behind them. Jazmine sauntered into view, looking not at all worse for wear. Her long hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing a neutral expression. Chuck frowned. He hadn't expected her to surface from her room for another couple of days at least, and who would have blamed her?

"What are you doing here?" Hannah looked as perplexed as Chuck felt.

"I live here…" Jazmine replied slowly.

"No, I mean, what are you doing _here? _I thought you'd be—"

"What? What did you think I'd be?" Jazmine cut her off. Her expression had hardened ever so slightly and Chuck realised what she was doing. He groaned internally. She was going to pretend that nothing had happened, that her brother hadn't returned and knocked her off the pedestal that she hadn't yet mounted. She was going to act like she was fine when really it was eating her up inside and there was nothing that he nor anyone else could do about it.

"Nothing," Hannah replied after a long pause, "I-I-nothing. I have to go. I'll see you later." She threw Chuck a look that quite clearly said 'do something!' before heading off. Jazmine watched her leave before turning to enter the mess hall. Chuck grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Are you seriously doing this?"

"Doing what?"

Chuck had to hold back his exasperation. "You can't pretend it didn't happen, Jaz. It's not healthy."

Jazmine pulled her arm out of Chuck's grasp before fixing him with a look so cold that he could have sworn that the air around them actually came down a few degrees. "Are you really trying to give me a lecture about healthy relationships right now? _You? _The guy who can't even talk to his own father unless you're plugged into his head? You are practically the fucking poster kid for unhealthy relationships and you think that you're in a position to judge me on how I decide to deal with my brother? _Really?_"

In hindsight, Chuck hadn't exactly chosen the best moment to try and help Jazmine come to terms with the whole Raleigh situation, but that was a low blow, even for her. "I'm not judging you," Chuck retorted angrily. "I'm trying to help!"

"I'm sorry, did I ask for your help?"

"You didn't have to!"

"So I didn't ask?"

"No, bu—"

"I don't want your help," Jazmine cut him off, "nor do I need it. _I _will decide how _I _deal with _my _brother, and I would appreciate it if you would kindly keep your fucking mouth shut and stay out of it. Am I clear?"

Chuck was furious. He'd been so sure that he and Jazmine had turned a corner, that their whole 'thing', whatever it was, had become something that was no longer violent and volatile, but apparently some people never changed. They were too much alike, he and Jazmine, in that they let their emotions run wild. That was why they constantly fought. Chuck had gotten better at it, reigning in his emotions, since piloting a Jaeger with a head full of swirling inner turmoil was damn near impossible, but being around Jazmine brought that side of him out. The side that thought with his heart rather than his head.

He watched her retreating figure with a scowl; she hadn't waited for a reply.

* * *

Jazmine cursed herself inwardly. She hadn't meant to blow up at Chuck. He'd spent the night holding her as she cried her heart out, and she'd thanked him by yelling at him and delivering some cheap shot about him and his dad? It was uncalled for, frankly. She needed to learn how to prevent her anger at one person from leaking out onto others.

She considered turning around, walking straight back and apologising. She _wanted _to. Probably would have, if it weren't for her pride. That, and the fact that the very second she even considered the idea, her brother rounded the corner and every emotion she possessed turned into an anger that she tried very, very hard to suppress. She'd already made a scene once this week, she wasn't about to do it again.

He had a black eye, she noticed, satisfaction soaking up some of the anger. There was a scratch above one of his eyebrows and he was sporting a split lip. She almost wanted to take a photo.

"Jazmine!" Raleigh exclaimed upon laying his eyes on her. She didn't respond. She let her eyes slide past him and carried on walking. _Don't talk to him, _she thought to herself. _Don't talk to him. Don't talk to him. Do not talk to him. _If she spoke to him, it would only end in disaster. She wasn't ready to deal with him or the many issues that he brought with him. "C'mon, Jaz," Raleigh pleaded when he realised her intent. "Talk to me! How am I supposed to fix this when you won't even look me in the eye?"

_There wouldn't be anything to fix if you hadn't bailed on me, _she replied inside her head. _If you'd have just stayed… _Things would have been different. The amount of time that she'd spent wondering just _how _different bordered on obsessive.


	25. Chapter 25

**PAN-PACIFIC DEFENSE**

**CORPS**

**PERSONNEL DOSSIER**

**NAME **Jazmine Becket

**ASSIGNED **Rangers, ID R-JBEC_482.22-V**  
TEAM**

**DATE OF **January 25, 2021**  
ACTIVE  
SERVICE **

**CURRENT **Active; based Hong **  
SERVICE **Kong Shatterdome**  
STATUS**

**BIOGRAPHY**

Born November 30, 2003, youngest of three. Older brothers Yancy (q.v., also an active-duty Ranger, KIA February 29, 2020) and Raleigh Becket (q.v., currently inactive). Parents deceased. Entered Jaeger Academy at Anchorage April 7, 2020 after eldest brother was KIA during engagement with Kaiju Knifehead. Younger brother, RB, survived and assumed solo control of Gipsy Danger but left shortly prior to Becket joining the Academy. Assigned with co-pilot Hannah Jones to Gipsy Danger following the Mark-III restoration programme. No deployments to date due to problems with neural handshake (see notes).

**NOTES**

Exceptional skills in all areas, excluding neural handshake. PPDC psychological staff have determined that Becket's inability to set up a firm neural handshake is due to memories concerning YB's death and RB's subsequent abandonment. Becket remains angry at her brother and is unable to reign in her emotions in the Drift. Marshall Pentecost is certain that this is a temporary affliction and that, despite her emotional fragility, Becket's skill set suits her to a Conn-Podd more than anywhere else.

* * *

Jazmine sat with her back against the wall that she normally sat on. She didn't care about the view today, certain that its usual calming effect would do nothing for her. She was freezing, which wasn't surprising. Early January was hardly known for its balmy temperatures. Apart from actually leaving the Shatterdome (which had been _such _a huge success last time, right?) the roof was the closest she could get to avoiding people. The only person who knew about this bolthole was Chuck, and she doubted even he would come looking for her up here at this time of year.

She hated him. Raleigh. She wanted to bash his head into a wall, snap his neck with her bare hands. She wanted to make him feel physically, the way that she had emotionally when he'd left. She hated him. That's what she told herself over and over and over again, knowing full well that she didn't actually hate him at all. She was angry because she loved him. He was her brother and she'd always love him, no matter what, but he'd hurt her in a way that only he could. With their parents gone, Jazmine had been terrified that Yancy and Raleigh would leave her too. They were still so young themselves, why would they want to be lumbered with their younger sister? Their parents certainly hadn't given it much thought. _Mom could have stopped smoking, she could have at least tried to beat it, _Jazmine had thought to herself more times than she cared to admit. _But she didn't. She didn't care. Maybe if the boys had still been at that age where they needed caring for, she would have, but for me? No chance. And as for dad, he was no better. Waking up the morning after mom's funeral to find dad had upped and left was a real eye opener. You can't trust anyone, _Jazmine thought bitterly. She'd expected Raleigh and Yancy to do the same, to go off and live their lives however they wanted to, but they'd stayed. They'd stayed and looked after her and assured her that whatever happened, they would never leave her behind, and she'd believed them, she'd trusted them, and they'd left her too. Yancy had had no choice, but Raleigh…Raleigh could have stayed. Should have stayed. Why hadn't he stayed? Was she not good enough for him to stick around for? Hadn't he cared that she was sixteen, afraid and alone and, more than anything, needed her brother? Her only living family.

Chuck was right, she needed to deal with this. She couldn't push it to the back of her mind and pretend that it wasn't happening, like she did with everything else. It wasn't healthy and it wouldn't help anyone.

Chuck. _Oh, shit. _She remembered their last encounter, briefly forgotten as she sifted through her emotional baggage with Raleigh. He'd either be angry or hurt, either one was reasonable. He'd been willing to help her and she'd shot him down for no good reason. Why did she do that? Why was she so intent on pushing people away? People that she genuinely cared about. How exactly Chuck had made it onto her very short list of people that she genuinely cared about, she wasn't quite sure, but he had, which was exactly why she had to swallow her pride, find him, and apologise.

* * *

Jazmine rapped sharply on the cold, hard metal of Chuck's door. There was no answer, so she knocked again. And again, to no avail. Perhaps he wasn't in, although she'd looked almost everywhere else that she could think of and hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, so where else could he be?

She was about to give up and go back to her own room with her tail between her legs when Chuck's door swung open. When he saw that it was her, he leant against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest, looking down at her with a cold expression. If looks could kill…

"Hey," Jazmine said.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was no warmer than his face.

"You're angry—"

"I'm not angry."

"Well, you should be. What I said, it was out of line. I know that you were just trying to help."

He sighed. "Out of line, yes, but everything you said was true."

"That's not the point. I shouldn't have said it, Chuck. It wasn't my place, and I'm sorry."

Chuck stared at her for a few moments. He seemed to be struggling with himself. That made Jazmine nervous. What was it that Chuck wanted to say that was causing him to struggle with his words? Chuck, who knew what to say in even the most awkward of situations, was looking at her like he had something to say, he just didn't know how to say it.

* * *

Chuck chewed on his bottom lip. He didn't want to say the words that he'd spent the last hour and a half practicing in the mirror above the wash basin, but he had to. God knows he'd tried to talk himself out of it, but at the end of the day, there were bigger things at stake here than his happiness. The fate of the world rested on his shoulders, quite literally. Jazmine had gotten under his skin, and since then his head had been all over the place. He didn't need anyone to tell him that if he didn't stay focused, he'd end up dead. They all would.

"Look, Jaz," Chuck began, just the way he'd practiced about fifty times. "This thing between us, whatever the hell it is, it has to end."

"Oh," the colour drained from her face and she took a step back. "Ok." She looked upset. _No, no. Oh, fuck. _Chuck hadn't been prepared for that, which seemed foolish, really, given the current climate of things. Had he not spent the entire night before holding her as she wept her heart out over her brother? _Yes, her brother, _he reminded himself. Raleigh was somebody she actually cared about, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Chuck hadn't considered himself as someone of import in Jazmine's life, regardless of how he felt about her. _Don't cry. Don't cry. Please don't cry. _If she cried, he knew that his resolve would shatter, and the world would suffer. He couldn't have her in his head. He _couldn't. _"Why?"

Chuck shrugged. "This was never supposed to be permanent. It was just a bit of fun. Besides, bigger picture, Jaz. The world needs saving, and I'm supposed to be the one doing it. How can I be expected to drop a thermonuclear bomb down a breach at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean when I'm too busy wondering when I'm gonna get my next shag in?" He sounded like such a dick, which wasn't hard considering he _was _a dick, but whilst he had no problem acting that way towards other people…well, Jazmine wasn't other people.

"'_Just a bit of fun'_?" Jazmine echoed in a voice devoid of any emotion. "For you, maybe." She turned without another word and walked away. Chuck opened his mouth to call her back, before remembering that this was what he wanted. Well, no, it wasn't what he _wanted, _but it needed to be done. That didn't stop the urge to run after her and beg her to forget everything that he'd just said to almost overwhelm him. _Nicely done, Chuck, _he berated himself. _Good one. _


End file.
